Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1150

Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Tim Johnston

Committee Member

Cary Holladay

Committee Member

James Newcomb

Abstract

Everyone Who Ever Lived is a novel centered on the experience of Elliot, an analyst at a private intelligence agency, sent to Cambodia to track down Samuel Marven, a whistleblower who has stolen both corporate and state secrets. Elliot’s wife, Julia, joins him, and both see it as a way to improve their marriage. Elliot also sees this job as a means of securing a promotion, which he badly needs—they’re in danger of losing their house, though Julia does not know it. Elliot’s job is to mathematically predict the occurrence of bad things, and he sees every aspect of his life through the lens of this unrelenting logic. Part of him believes that with the right reasoning and forewarning, virtually any circumstance can be controlled, but this mindset begins to erode as the couple travels through Cambodia and things become more complicated, both in his professional and romantic life. When he does finally track down Samuel Marven, the waters are further muddied. The lines between himself and Marven—and between right and wrong—must be redrawn, and he must come to terms with traumatic, unpredictable events in his past.

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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