The History of Living Forever tells the story of Conrad, a gay teenager with a dying father and a secret lover: his high school chemistry teacher, Samuel "Sammy" Tampari. When Sammy commits suicide in the novel's first chapter, Conrad inherits a lifetime's worth of journals that chronicle the teacher's complicated history with alternative medicine. Conrad must then decide whether and how to use these journals to save his father. Much of the book comprises Conrad's exploration of his teacher's journals, which relay Sammy's travels across the globe in search of alternative medicines and inspiration--travels that take him to China, to Belize, and even to Easter Island. Along the way, Sammy acquires allies and enemies who may ultimately influence the fate of his young student. For Conrad, the novel, at its heart, takes the shape of a simple coming-of-age story. Conrad must learn to accept and negotiate with his outsider status as a science prodigy, as a gay teen, and as the only Jew in his small Maine town. And yet this central shape of the story becomes complicated by its surroundings--epic tales involving the history of medicine and the search for eternal life. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 25, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / Mark Winegardner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Aline Kalbian, University Representative; Dennis Moore, Committee Member; Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Committee Member; Jennine Capó Crucet, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253494 |
| Contributors | Wolff, Jacob (authoraut), Winegardner, Mark (professor directing dissertation), Kalbian, Aline H. (university representative), Moore, Dennis D. (committee member), Stuckey-French, Elizabeth (committee member), Crucet, Jennine Capó (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of English (degree granting department) |
| 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 (481 pages), 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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