First published 2014
A solitary rancher in New Mexico encounters a visiting astronomer during a late night at the Very Large Array radio telescope installation. Their brief meeting becomes a moment of connection across the vast emptiness of the desert. In north Texas, a planetarium director watches his facility crumble after the Oklahoma City bombing while homeless people seek shelter among his stars and schoolchildren look for wonder in his darkened dome. In New York, a Texas architect walks the post-9/11 streets, redesigning public spaces by day and wrestling with private desires by night when he meets a vibrant young woman. These characters move through American deserts both real and metaphorical, fighting asthma and insomnia, battling inertia and isolation. They are architects and astronomers, ranchers and exiles, all searching for meaning in landscapes that promise either emptiness or infinite possibility.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, interconnected-stories
Setting: New Mexico, Texas, New York
Period: 21st-century, post-9/11
210 pages · Kindle Edition · Dzanc Books