Nobody Knows How It Got This Good: Short Stories From The Deep South

A used car salesman finds himself embattled with a local gang. A U.S, Census enumerator disappears in the Black Belt. A former Birmingham fire fighter is haunted by his involvement in hosing peaceful protesters during the Civil Rights Movement. A riverboat captain recounts his time working for a mining company while sailing down the Black Warrior River. A newlywed couple's honeymoon is botched by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A lynching survivor tells the story of his near-death experience. Through sixteen stories sharing common environments and characters drawing heavily on the author's experiences growing up in central Alabama, Nobody Knows How It Got This Good explores themes of racial injustice, class, the Civil Rights Movement, environmental catastrophe, imprisonment, suburbanization, and the perennial themes of love, life, and loss. Though set in the Deep South, these stories aspire with humor and pathos to address national dilemmas.