| dc.description.abstract | Professionals is a collection of seven short stories about obsession, longing, and the calamities left in the wake of people chasing greatness grand and small. It centers characters fighting to outdo their ideas of themselves—in work, in family, in love—who are forced to confront the relational costs of their desires. In “Onion,” a father watches from the afterlife as his daughter and widow carry his culinary legacy forward while forging their own. In “Kuiper Driver Savior Spy,” a restaurant server infatuated with stage magic attempts to surpass his mentor during a performance. In “Dear Gilda,” a scientist on expedition writes love letters to her girlfriend during a spiraling climate disaster. In “Don’t Say Golfing,” a retired widower secretly navigating his bisexuality seeks new community with a group of weekend disc golf hobbyists. Framed by the concept of “professional,” this thesis investigates grief as catalyst, masculinity in parenthood, the boundary and bleed between home life and work life, and the craftsperson’s fixation on the physical world. For these characters, the gap between novice and expert is one worth bridging, no matter the price. | |
