Comets
Date
2018-01-04
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MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa
Abstract
Comets is a linked collection of short fiction that follows the life of Robert
Lazzara and the unpredictable struggles of a group of cabinetmakers in the Latin
Quarter of Ybor City, an historic Tampa neighborhood.
Robert is a lying, juvenile, self-pitying cabinetmaker who spends long
days in his father’s shop staring out the garage doors waiting for his life to start.
He is incredibly perceptive to small details, but blind to the comic and tragic lives
of his coworkers: Del, who stumbles into seven garbage bags of pot and sees it as
financial freedom; Pernell who has PTSD, a loveless marriage and works 16 hour
days believing that death can make him a hero; Crazy Jimmy who speaks to his
dead son and dreams of flying away with his homing pigeons; and Larry, the
homeless, jazz pianist, who fights demons, addictions and racism.
The twelve-story collection follows the mild and dire struggles of the men,
as well as their wives and girlfriends, with problems that resonate deeply, while
throughline protagonist, Robert, grows from a sophomoric 19 to an assured 36,
trying to fill his father’s shoes, while searching for a deeper understanding of
himself and his life.
Inspiration for Comets was drawn from collections like Olive Kitteridge,
Knockemstiff and Jesus’ Son, as well as by the gritty, blue-collar world in which I
was raised.
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Keywords
Short stories, Tampa, Ybor City