TY - JOUR TI - The ugly side DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3H41QF1 PY - 2012 AB - The Ugly Side is a collection of short stories that deal with common themes of loneliness, rejection, and slippery truths. The central characters in the stories are constantly searching, in themselves and in others, for some shred of goodness or sanity, though they do not always find it in the people or worlds in which they exist. The characters, be they central or otherwise, try to use humor to make amends with the situations they encounter. The central characters are all male, and always seem to have difficulty communicating with others. The difficulties the men face in regards to communication is not inherently based on their gender, but rather on a more general, human level. Dialogues go in circles and rarely are understandings met. The writing tends toward absurdist, where even realistic situation feel unreal. The collection deals with both the real world and fantastical ones that are, in the least, recognizable as a world we could potentially inhabit. KW - Creative Writing LA - eng ER -