Falling from a high place into an unknown abyss of strange characters and even stranger events takes readers far further than Humpty Dumpty and into a cats-cradle of mystery and humor. Jonah Tinderwunkel, the protagonist, mistakenly cast a curse upon himself at the age of fourteen. Now, twenty-eight years later he is a high-tech loner and loser who finds himself seeking help after a great fall. With a cracked cranium and smashed ankle (talus), he stumbles into a small Florida town off the beaten track—home to a mix of retired circus workers. As he recedes into a coma, his fate lies in the hands of Sam, a physician; Jasper, Sam’s smart-ass sidekick; and Agnes, Sam’s ex-wife and witch. In their retirement, the men have taken to solving crimes for a hobby. Retirement is not cheap, so they want to break into crime writing. When they discover Jonah writes tinny detective novels, Sam and Jasper are mesmerized by the prospects of golden opportunities dangling, once Jonah awakes. Unfortunately for them, Jonah has several out-of-body experiences during the coma. As a detective comedy-drama with magical realism edginess, The Talus glows with humorous characters while grabbing the back of your neck. The Talus is a novel by Carol Roddenberry, set in current time in central Florida locations.
","abstract_html":"<p>Falling from a high place into an unknown abyss of strange characters and even stranger events takes readers far further than Humpty Dumpty and into a cats-cradle of mystery and humor. Jonah Tinderwunkel, the protagonist, mistakenly cast a curse upon himself at the age of fourteen. Now, twenty-eight years later he is a high-tech loner and loser who finds himself seeking help after a great fall. With a cracked cranium and smashed ankle (talus), he stumbles into a small Florida town off the beaten track—home to a mix of retired circus workers. As he recedes into a coma, his fate lies in the hands of Sam, a physician; Jasper, Sam’s smart-ass sidekick; and Agnes, Sam’s ex-wife and witch. In their retirement, the men have taken to solving crimes for a hobby. Retirement is not cheap, so they want to break into crime writing. When they discover Jonah writes tinny detective novels, Sam and Jasper are mesmerized by the prospects of golden opportunities dangling, once Jonah awakes. Unfortunately for them, Jonah has several out-of-body experiences during the coma. As a detective comedy-drama with magical realism edginess, <em>The Talus</em> glows with humorous characters while grabbing the back of your neck. <em>The Talus</em> is a novel by Carol Roddenberry, set in current time in central Florida locations.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roddenberry, Carol"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)","degree_level":"Capstone","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. William Rice","Dr. Sergio Figueiredo"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-04-23T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-04-23T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:33Z","subjects":["comic hero","comedy drama","magical realism","Florida","crime","mystery","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Fiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mapw_etd/53","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. William Rice","Dr. Sergio Figueiredo"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roddenberry, Carol"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-04-28T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Capstone"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["comic hero","comedy drama","magical realism","Florida","crime","mystery","Arts and Humanities","Creative Writing","Fiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mapw_etd/53"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Falling from a high place into an unknown abyss of strange characters and even stranger events takes readers far further than Humpty Dumpty and into a cats-cradle of mystery and humor. Jonah Tinderwunkel, the protagonist, mistakenly cast a curse upon himself at the age of fourteen. Now, twenty-eight years later he is a high-tech loner and loser who finds himself seeking help after a great fall. With a cracked cranium and smashed ankle (talus), he stumbles into a small Florida town off the beaten track—home to a mix of retired circus workers. As he recedes into a coma, his fate lies in the hands of Sam, a physician; Jasper, Sam’s smart-ass sidekick; and Agnes, Sam’s ex-wife and witch. In their retirement, the men have taken to solving crimes for a hobby. Retirement is not cheap, so they want to break into crime writing. When they discover Jonah writes tinny detective novels, Sam and Jasper are mesmerized by the prospects of golden opportunities dangling, once Jonah awakes. Unfortunately for them, Jonah has several out-of-body experiences during the coma. As a detective comedy-drama with magical realism edginess, The Talus glows with humorous characters while grabbing the back of your neck. The Talus is a novel by Carol Roddenberry, set in current time in central Florida locations.
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