Funny Stories for Sad People

Date of Award

Winter 2023

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Creative writing

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

First Advisor

Ann Williams

Second Advisor

Sarah W Sherman

Third Advisor

Thomas Payne

Abstract

Funny Stories for Sad People is a collection of twelve stories that explore themes of male friendship, fraught parental relationships, and conflicted selfhood. The characters within this collection grapple with grief, despair, and loneliness as they confront the absurd. An isolated college grad learns how to be vulnerable by getting his tummy rubbed; a high school Spanish teacher trains her dog to talk while navigating the end of her marriage; a midlife crisis comes in the form of a best friend’s grotesque dying wish. Stories that begin as farce soon pivot towards the most tender parts of the human psyche.

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