Wichita by Thad Ziolkowski

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Synopsis

Lewis Chopik has just graduated from Columbia University. Having been dumped by his girlfriend and in flight from the pressures exerted by his ambitious professor father, Lewis returns to Wichita in search of respite at the home of his New-Ager mother, Abby. But when Abby picks Lewis up from the airport, she reveals that she's starting a storm-chasing business and indulging a polyamorous lifestyle. Another unexpected arrival is Seth, Lewis's bi-polar younger... more

Lewis Chopik has just graduated from Columbia University. Having been dumped by his girlfriend and in flight from the pressures exerted by his ambitious professor father, Lewis returns to Wichita in search of respite at the home of his New-Ager mother, Abby. But when Abby picks Lewis up from the airport, she reveals that she's starting a storm-chasing business and indulging a polyamorous lifestyle. Another unexpected arrival is Seth, Lewis's bi-polar younger brother, who shows off a new tattoo on his chest: In Loving Memory of Seth Chopik. Lewis Chopik has at last graduated from Columbia University. Having been dumped by his girlfriend and in flight from the pressures exerted by his ambitious professor father, Lewis returns to Wichita in search of respite at the home of his New- Ager mother, Abby. But when Abby picks Lewis up from the airport, she reveals that she's starting a storm-chasing business then passes Lewis a graduation gift of $5000 in cash, which turns out to be the proceeds of a feminist Ponzi scheme called The Birthday Party. Lewis soon learns that his mother is also indulging a polyamorous lifestyle. One of her boyfriends, a chemist and professor of “futures studies,” lives in a tent in the yard and has a drug lab in the basement. Another unexpected arrival is Seth, Lewis's charismatic yet troubling bi-polar younger brother. Seth is back home to unveil the new tattoo emblazoned on his chest that reads, In Loving Memory of Seth Chopik. Things begin to resemble the land of Oz more than Wichita, when Lewis, while minding Seth, joins Abby in the Flint Hills on a storm-chase with her first client.A story by turns comic and ominous, written in prose that is supple and precise, Wichita explores the bonds of brotherhood and the fortunes of a family riven by competing notions of how—and why—to live. less

About Thad Ziolkowski

About the AuthorThad Ziolkowski's poetry has appeared in Sulfur, Mandorla, O-blek, Lingo, and Talisman, among other journals. His work was included in An... more

About the AuthorThad Ziolkowski's poetry has appeared in Sulfur, Mandorla, O-blek, Lingo, and Talisman, among other journals. His work was included in An Anthology of (American) Poets (Talisman Books, 1998) and Writing from the New Coast (O-blek Editions, 1993). His chapbooks include Dream Works (Bill Maynes Books, 1996) and Terminal B (Fractional Currency, 1990). He was a staff reviewer for Artforum Magazine for almost a decade, and his non-fiction has appeared in Slate, Bookforum, Index, Travel & Leisure, and The Village Voice. An account of his surfer boyhood in Melbourne Beach, Florida, On a Wave was published in 2002 by Grove/Atlantic and was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award in 2003. less