Love, dirt / Bruce Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Bruce, 1986- Author.

Series:

Iowa short fiction award

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Families--Fiction.

Families.

Genre:

short stories.

Short stories.

Physical Description:

139 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Description: From the intimate confines of a Nebraska farmhouse to the bustling streets of South America, the characters of Love, Dirt traverse uneasy spaces in search of human connection. A closeted teen on a trip to Chile hides in his parents' bedroom to avoid being caught fooling around with a local boy. An elderly couple attempts to scale a volcano, wrestling with their own physical limitations and an unbearable loss in their past. A father becomes convinced that a daycare has swapped his toddler with a near-identical imposter. The public relations industry of Las Vegas is at first amused and then scandalized by a businesswoman's ability to divine people's birthplaces and childhood experiences just by listening to them speak. And a son's long-deceased parents return to life as fumbling, inept zombies that are more nuisance than threat. In these and other stories, Bruce Johnson's bold, thought-provoking debut explores how we are shaped by the narratives that we craft for ourselves and others. Filled with compassion, humor, and a striking breadth of stylistic variety, it shows characters chafing against the roles and places that they inhabit, struggling under the weight of regional expectations, gender norms, economic uncertainty, and past trauma, but nonetheless striving to move forward-one small, wavering step at a time"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The knack

In case I don't call

Love, Dirt

There, there

The Brightmore problem

Nothing is ever so simple as zombies

Sayings

Consider it saved

Breath

All the wild

Snapshots

Now nothing

The so-called Jacob

The slabs

Nine point five

What that meant in miles

Other Format:

Online version Johnson, Bruce, 1986- Love, dirt

ISBN:

9781685970390

1685970397

OCLC:

1515472841