Bearing Down

A Six-Story Collection

What are the repercussions of the choices we have madeor worse, what are the consequences of those events that are (at least partially) out of our control? Once we consider these consequences, what do we do next? In this six-story collection, a colorful group of characters face just those questions in adventures that journey to places as diverse the Great Plains and the Deep South. As each story explores how these challenges impact the individual, the collection reveals a greater continuity of the contemporary American experience, as seen through the eyes of soldiers, roofers, heroin addicts, and a thirteen-year-old kid out to save his own mother. What seems to set us apart may, in fact, connect us in ways no one realizes. From New York City to New Orleans, the various landscapes of present-day America blend with characters and situations presented with a unique brand of realism, bringing disparate worlds together.