Even in Arcadia: stories

Abstract

Even in Arcadia: Stories is a short story collection that follows adolescent and young adult women as they navigate growing up and growing out of the spaces they inhabit. Set in the American southwest, specifically unnamed suburban and rural cities of Arizona, the collection challenges the culturally popular narratives that surround the West-- the idealized cowboy, rugged individualism, and conquest of nature. Drawing on long-standing myths, serialized TV shows, and classic literature, the collection asks the reader to evaluate the stories they consume and are willing to take as truth. The stories range from realistic to speculative, employing horror and surrealistic elements as they descend into a sort of hellscape that draws on natural elements of desert landscapes juxtaposed against urban spaces. The collection focuses on gender, adolescence, and trauma set in the aftermath of the 2008 recession and the decline of small-town America from the perspective of youth.