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No Laughing Matter: William Saroyan’s Californians in Crisis

“No Laughing Matter: William Saroyan’s Californians in Crisis” examines the conflicted and melancholy male protagonists of three Saroyan novels: Rock Wagram (1950), The Laughing Matter (1953), and Boys and Girls Together (1963). Edward Said’s thoughts on filiation and affiliation as well as Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of the “silent Other” speak to the unsteady first-generation males, who are victims of their Armenian American double-consciousness. Two of the protagonists grapple with deceased fathers and meet unfortunate fates on the roads of California, illustrating Saroyan’s nihilistic vision is consistent with that of James M. Cain and other California authors.