The stories in this collection reflect the absurdities of contemporary American family life, and the particularly distressing economic conditions of the present moment. These stories often employ absurdist elements. Because of the personal history that informs my work, realism does not seem an appropriate form for me. My oldest son, in whom my emotional well-being is heavily invested, is autistic. He is not “normal"? in a way that others would understand as “normal."? Parenting a child with special needs changes the way a marriage operates, deforming it. The personal experience that drives these stories often seems fantastical even to me. I don’t write about my personal experiences, but I write about the impressions that those experiences make upon me. In this way, my work is descriptive rather than didactic. / Master of Fine Arts