Running down the ghosts : stories

The four short stories in this collection all take place in Galvin, a rural Midwestern town plagued by its reluctance to acknowledge the problems that are destroying it: methamphetamines, unemployment, and a dwindling police force to name a few. The characters in this collection realize that stasis eventually becomes paralysis, and that escape is both necessary and inevitable, whether it is through uprooting, obsession, or substance abuse. Each character experiences alienation and struggles with the way their past decisions have shaped the trajectory of their lives. There is a sense of danger throughout the collection for the next generation of the town's inhabitants, as small children are usually in trouble or under the guidance of adults who are still struggling to untie the knots of their own lies. These characters are all running down ghosts—of the loved ones they've lost or abandoned, of the innocence they've surrendered, of the lives they lived before regret.Department of EnglishThesis (M.A.