Love in America

Abstract

This thesis is a selection of chapters and chapter excerpts from my short novel Love in America, a tale of two unlikely young lovers in present day America. They are only deemed “unlikely,” however, through the eyes of Ben Rose, a recently returned Iraq War veteran who finishes college in western NY on the GI Bill and heads west for Hollywood to try his hand at acting. After burning through limited funds, partying with a group of aspiring talents and other transients at the Chateau de Soleil, a temporary house for actors in LA, Ben must return home. Intermittently, Ben reflects on his past relationships, particularly concerning his German girlfriend whom he met during his time stationed in Germany while in the Army and whose scathing cultural critiques of America and her own beliefs in an “open relationship” and the freedom of European casual sex leave Ben freshly burned and bitter in his own country. Although the idea of living as an expatriate writer had always appealed to Ben since he read Hemingway, an adventurous, spirited American love affair swings his way in Samantha Kelly, a 22-year-old seemingly mainstream Harry Potter-aficionado whose coquettish attractiveness allures Ben to the point of obsession. Although a girl already spoken for, Samantha admires Ben and his risqué self-published novel. However, as an older veteran who never had much luck with such sociable American girls as Samantha, Ben is not surprised when she drifts out of contact with him. As he develops a modest writing career by finally publishing legitimately, Ben meets with Samantha once more after a small reading in Manhattan for a night of romance in the city.