This project is a collection of four novel chapters and two short stories, ranging from the tragic to the comic. All feature characters forced to confront and adapt to a changing world. In The Lost Fathers of the Depression, a journalist travels to a depressed town to cover the story of a murder-suicide, attributed in part to the recession, only to find himself out of a job. Abby, the main character in “Lake Contrary,” must alter her optimistic worldview when her neighbor’s son returns from Iraq and she becomes entangled with his family. And finally, in “The Last Boy Band,” Chuck resorts to desperate measures after his line of work becomes obsolete
