Several of the stories in this collection were inspired by the Lindbergh kidnapping. What most interests me was the public hysteria over the kidnapping, and the astonishing number of people who attempted to insinuate themselves into the case. For this reason, I prefer to write from the perspective of marginal characters with no connection to the Lindbergh kidnapping except those they create themselves. "Cutting the Night in Half" is about a sickly teenage boy, who, even though he worships Lindbergh--or perhaps because of it--mails fake ransom notes. I have also included an epistolary story about the 1874 kidnapping of Charley Ross, widely considered the first child kidnapped for ransom in the United States. While this story is not about the Lindbergh kidnapping, it provides context to understanding the reaction of both the family and the public, and also the hysteria that developed around the case. My interest in the Lindbergh kidnapping fits a larger pattern in my fiction, which is how obsession functions in people's lives--how characters use an interest or hobby to give their lives structure or meaning. I'm also interested in exploring subcultures, microcosms, and communities, particularly those that tend toward the circumscribed and claustrophobic. For example, "A Habit of Elopement" is a about a live-in caregiver for the developmentally disabled. Beyond exploring the disabled world, the story also asks readers to re-evaluate their assumptions about the "normal world." / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 30, 2012. / lindbergh kidnapping / Includes bibliographical references. / Mark Winegardner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Edward Gray, University Representative; Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Committee Member; Robert Olen Butler, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183543 |
| Contributors | Garrett, Caimeen (authoraut), Winegardner, Mark (professor directing dissertation), Gray, Edward (university representative), Stuckey-French, Elizabeth (committee member), Butler, Robert Olen (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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