Date of Award
Spring 2025
Language
English
Embargo Period
4-30-2027
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School/Department
Department of English
Program
English
First Advisor
Edward Schwarzschild
Committee Members
Lynne Tillman, Aashish Kaul
Keywords
Fiction
Subject Categories
Fiction
Abstract
Brief Drama is the comic account of a “nontraditional college student slash musician slash aspiring writer slash odd-jobber” who begins pursuing sexual encounters with men, despite only being interested romantically in women. Set mostly in New York in the mid-2010s, the story is retrospectively “told” to the narrator’s girlfriend, the first partner he’s felt comfortable confiding in. The novel focuses on the myriad complications and shame that can accompany uncategorizable sexual behavior in a society obsessed with categories and expectations of masculinity. The “heteroromantic bisexual” male isn’t new to literature, but he’s someone whose story is told obliquely or in passing, never fully explored or examined. This protagonist’s experience may not be rare, but it’s one that’s rarely told. Themes and misadventures of the novel also include: what it’s like being an undergrad at 33; homoeroticism between close male friends; demeaning part-time jobs, including babysitting the six-year-old daughter of a prominent book editor; a dismal trip to India for the wedding of a friend; memories of being a child model in 90s’ Manhattan; Jewish guilt, ambivalence about procreation, and a run-in with Courtney Love. Brief Drama is a candid and playful portrayal of one man’s search for pleasure and the questions it raises about labels, identity, and freedom in our absurd country. Though its chapters are episodic and avoid cause-and-effect plot points, by the end the reader will have gone on a singular journey—that of a neurotic hedonist’s path to self-acceptance.
License
This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.
Recommended Citation
Axelrod, Sam, "Brief Drama: A Novel" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 188.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/188
