Beneath the Bonfire - Softcover

The stories in Beneath the Bonfire pack a sincere, emotional punch. Nickolas Butler's territory might be the Midwest (which warms this particular reader's heart), but the losses--and hard-won gains--are universal. This writer is the real deal -- Peter Orner, author of LAST CAR OVER THE SAGAMORE BRIDGE Sentence-by-sentence, Beneath the Bonfire is a truly beautiful collection. It's a love letter to a landscape, yes, but it's also elegiac, funny, and dazzlingly dreamy, a look into the complicated inner lives of outwardly stoic souls -- Dean Bakopoulos, author of SUMMERLONG When I finished Nickolas Butler's stellar debut novel, I thought: Here's a man who sees the saint in all of us. Well, his vision is only getting stronger. He's the Midwestern bard I've been waiting my whole life for -- Peter Geye, author of THE LIGHTHOUSE ROAD Beneath the Bonfire burns?with nostalgia forthose ?youthful years when we know too little and surrenders to the later years when we've learned too much. With honesty and tenderness, Butler portrays people at crossroads, as hardened and hopeful as the landscape they can't leave behind -- Diane Cook, author of MAN V. NATURE Butler's characters lust and cherish and sustain and betray and redeem and console, traveling through every chamber of the human heart, and it's hard to say -- based on these excellent stories -- whether love is the easiest or the most complicated emotion, but it's clearly the best -- Benjamin Percy, author of RED MOON These stories kept me reading all night and filled my heart all day. From the surreal to the surprisingly spot-on, Butler's greatest gift is his ability to report the rusty truth while still allowing the stainless steel soul of his characters to shine through -- Michael Perry, author of TRUCK There's a quiet heartbreak throughout Beneath the Bonfire. A wonderful story collection that conjures all the craft of Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son -- Nicole Lea Helget, author of STILLWATER The stories in Beneath the Bonfire highlight the strength in people during some of their weakest moments. The rich poetry in Butler's gut-wrenching prose makes for a stunning portrait of quiet life in small town America. A universally relatable voice, filled with heart and grit -- Marcus Burke, author of TEAM SEVEN I love these stories: they're quiet, careful. As glaciated as their own vistas. Without a doubt, Beneath the Bonfire is a diamond of a collection, shaped and hardened through the profound geologic pressures of love and pain -- Bill Cheng, author of SOUTHERN CROSS THE DOG Butler's characters could have emerged from vintage American rock songs, living on small hopes and banding together as best they can * New York Times * Some narratives have been gloriously expanded into fully molded works of art, while others are mere portraits, short yet no less poignant . . . Sensitive to the human condition, Butler continues to demonstrate his impressive command of atmosphere and humanity * Publishers Weekly *

Young couples gather to participate in an annual 'chainsaw party', cutting down trees for firewood in anticipation of the winter. A group of men spend a weekend in the wilderness where they grew up, and where some still find themselves trapped. An ageing environmentalist takes out his frustration and anger on a singular, unsuspecting target. A woman helps another get revenge against a man whose crime extends to an entire community. In these ten stories, Nickolas Butler demonstrates his talent for portraying a place and its people with unparalleled tenderness, evoking an American landscape that will be instantly recognizable to readers enchanted by his debut novel, Shotgun Lovesongs.