An Imaginary, Average Sun is a novel about J, a computer programmer and data analyst, who discovers an algorithm that can predict her future. The book is composed of sections and fragments that investigate the lead up to and fall out from J’s discovery and the effect it has upon her work, her marriage, and her sense of self. The book skips back and forth between characters as well as forward and backwards in time so that the creation of unity and meaning in the novel will to some extent necessitate the active participation of the reader, interrogating how technology disjoints, fragments, and complicates concepts of self and meaning. From this central premise and through this formal experimentation, the novel explores questions about free will, representation and reality, and our relationship with computer technology. Are we the ultimate source of our ideas and actions? To what extent are we influenced, or even determined, by social and technological systems out of our control? And how do such questions shape our sense of reality and of ourselves?
","abstract_html":"<p><em>An Imaginary, Average Sun </em>is a novel about J, a computer programmer and data analyst, who discovers an algorithm that can predict her future. The book is composed of sections and fragments that investigate the lead up to and fall out from J’s discovery and the effect it has upon her work, her marriage, and her sense of self. The book skips back and forth between characters as well as forward and backwards in time so that the creation of unity and meaning in the novel will to some extent necessitate the active participation of the reader, interrogating how technology disjoints, fragments, and complicates concepts of self and meaning. From this central premise and through this formal experimentation, the novel explores questions about free will, representation and reality, and our relationship with computer technology. Are we the ultimate source of our ideas and actions? To what extent are we influenced, or even determined, by social and technological systems out of our control? And how do such questions shape our sense of reality and of ourselves?</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Weinkam, Matthew"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matt Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z","subjects":["technology","predictive analytics","future","algorithm","free will","fragments","J","time","vending machine","Fiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/107","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matt Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Weinkam, Matthew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2028-07-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["technology","predictive analytics","future","algorithm","free will","fragments","J","time","vending machine","Fiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/107"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["An Imaginary, Average Sun is a novel about J, a computer programmer and data analyst, who discovers an algorithm that can predict her future. The book is composed of sections and fragments that investigate the lead up to and fall out from J’s discovery and the effect it has upon her work, her marriage, and her sense of self. The book skips back and forth between characters as well as forward and backwards in time so that the creation of unity and meaning in the novel will to some extent necessitate the active participation of the reader, interrogating how technology disjoints, fragments, and complicates concepts of self and meaning. From this central premise and through this formal experimentation, the novel explores questions about free will, representation and reality, and our relationship with computer technology. Are we the ultimate source of our ideas and actions? To what extent are we influenced, or even determined, by social and technological systems out of our control? And how do such questions shape our sense of reality and of ourselves?
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Imaginary, Average Sun"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matt Frank"],"dc:creator":["Weinkam, Matthew"],"dc:date.available":["2028-07-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["An Imaginary, Average Sun is a novel about J, a computer programmer and data analyst, who discovers an algorithm that can predict her future. The book is composed of sections and fragments that investigate the lead up to and fall out from J’s discovery and the effect it has upon her work, her marriage, and her sense of self. The book skips back and forth between characters as well as forward and backwards in time so that the creation of unity and meaning in the novel will to some extent necessitate the active participation of the reader, interrogating how technology disjoints, fragments, and complicates concepts of self and meaning. From this central premise and through this formal experimentation, the novel explores questions about free will, representation and reality, and our relationship with computer technology. Are we the ultimate source of our ideas and actions? To what extent are we influenced, or even determined, by social and technological systems out of our control? And how do such questions shape our sense of reality and of ourselves?
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/107"],"dc:subject":["technology","predictive analytics","future","algorithm","free will","fragments","J","time","vending machine","Fiction"],"dc:title":["An Imaginary, Average Sun"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z"}