Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal: Sputnik Monroe

Identifier

848

Date

2013

Document Type

Thesis (Access Restricted)

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Kristen Iversen

Committee Member

Cary Holladay

Committee Member

Janann Sherman

Abstract

This literary biography is on a 1950s Memphis wrestler, Sputnik Monroe, a white man who desegregated the wrestling auditoriums in Memphis, the first thing to be desegregated in the city before schools, buses or cafes. The nonfiction novel chronicles the antihero's humble rise from the dust storms of the Great Depression to his carnival days to his decision to take a stance in Memphis, which would ultimately be his triumph and his downfall personally and professionally. Monroe's story is important on its own as one that highlights a colorful, contradictory and flawed protagonist, but also because his experiences mirror the growing pains of Memphis as it struggles too with its identity as a city. Monroe's story is a uniquely American one and fits within a larger national context.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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