
Back to the Dirt
A Novel
by Frank Bill
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Pub Date May 09 2023 | Archive Date Jun 30 2023
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | FSG Originals
Description
Frank Bill is back with a gritty, wrenching novel from deep inside the traumas of a broken American heartland.
Miles is a Vietnam veteran who’s worried he’s going to lose his job—and with it his tenuous grasp on a stable life—over a fight with a coworker. His PTSD and struggles to control his steroid-fueled violent tendencies also complicate his relationship with his girlfriend, Shelby, a stripper who only occasionally displays the proverbial heart of gold. She’s certainly kinder and more generous than her brother, Wylie, who has been implicated in the deaths of two local Oxy dealers and is currently on the run. When Wylie kidnaps Shelby and holes up in Miles’s country lair, it all threatens to become a bit too much for Miles.
As Frank Bill peels back the layers of Miles’s history, going deep into his memories of the Vietnam War, Back to the Dirt gets to the root of the traumas that have caused Miles and his community so much adversity. In this blistering novel, Bill reaches for the core values—living close to the land, working with your hands—that have been obscured by generations of neglect, drug abuse, and desperation. This is a profound and important story of an America that is only beginning to get its due attention—and Frank Bill is its most visceral, essential chronicler.
Advance Praise
★ "Bill draws wrenching parallels between battle and family-abuse trauma through evocative hallucinations, survival-of-the-fittest settings, and disarming compassion . . . Bill’s descriptions are both ugly and beautiful, often merging the hunt with Miles’ Vietnam flashbacks, capturing the realities of those resigned to being left behind and the violence that offers short-lived power." —Booklist
"Bill’s feverish latest shines a light on an American heartland blighted by crushed dreams and debilitating addictions . . . With kinetic prose, Bill keeps up the pace and delivers a steady supply of grisly details . . . It makes for one hell of a ride. " —Publishers Weekly
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780374534431 |
PRICE | $18.00 (USD) |
PAGES | 336 |
Available on NetGalley
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