The Infundibula: A Novel

Identifier

etd-03292017-121302

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This text comprises excerpts from a novel entitled The Infundibula. The novel is told in a series of episodes by turns tragic and farcical, charting the adventures of an English professor named Lighthead — from his days as an idealistic U-Miami graduate student in love with a masked drug dealer to his tenure leading motorcycle-riding vigilantes in a fight to save Louisiana from its rogue governor to his drunken twilight years telling tall tales at a priest-owned bar. One half of the plot concerns Lighthead’s struggles as a disillusioned literature professor at the fictional Bayou University in mid-80’s Louisiana. His tenure coincides with the rise of a psychopathic politician bent on dismantling the state government, providing Lighthead the opportunity to live up to his ideals by recruiting a ragtag group of anarchists and leading them into battle. The other half of the plot, taking place in the 2000s, shows Lighthead 20 years later as an aging drunk in a bar back home in Miami. When the brothers who run the fried chicken restaurant next door to the bar begin a small-scale war to wrest control of the bar from its owner, Lighthead attempts to relive his glory days by once again battling the forces of (admittedly smaller-scale) evil. Between these antipoles of the story extend a far-flung array of backstories and episodes all contributing to the book’s climax in which, as detailed on the first page, the bar explodes, killing most of the people inside.

Date

2017

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Wheeler, Joshua

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4483

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