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University of New Orleans

Cheat River

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Cheat River is a novel about balancing family obligations against self-preservation. That is what's at stake for Allison and Andrew McKenna, a pair of siblings in rural Appalachia who must endure their father's abandonment and their pregnant mother's breakdown. At first, the two find solace from their parents' problems on the banks of the river from which the novel takes its name. But eventually, Andrew's homosexual feelings drive him to the bohemian streets of Philadelphia in the early '90s where he falls in with political activists and a household of misfits. He disappears, and Allison comes to the city to look for him. By retracing her brother's life, she realizes not only what he meant to her but what it will take to survive on her own.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
M.F.A.
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts
Year
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • McQuain, Kelly
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Lavender, William
  • Boyden, Amanda
  • Boyden Joseph

Subjects

dc:subject × 10

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1065
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-2046

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of New Orleans
Base URL
scholarworks.uno.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

McQuain, Kelly. Cheat River. Thesis thesis, 2007. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1065