Department of English

In the City of Angels, there was a man with a devil on his shoulder, who looked into his daughter’s eyes and saw the face of God. The intersectional identity of a formerly incarcerated single father fleeing from domestic violence is interrogated through the lens of Los Angeles’ current homelessness crisis in The Gospel of John McDaniel. In three stories that address the welfare motels, homeless shelters, and low-income housing bureaucracy that make up a large portion of the homelessness industrial complex, John McDaniel serves as an eyewitness whose story is a testimony to the resilience of those who successfully navigate the high barrier systems of homeless services. This story is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents, in this thesis are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.