"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 businesswomans ability to divine peoples birthplaces and childhood experiences just by listening to them speak. And a sons long-deceased parents return to life as fumbling, inept zombies that are more nuisance than threat. In these and other stories, Bruce Johnsons 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.