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 businesswoman’s ability to divine people’s birthplaces and childhood experiences just by listening to them speak. And a son’s long-deceased parents return to life as fumbling, inept zombies who are more nuisance than threat. In these and other stories, Bruce Johnson’s bold, thought-provoking debut explores how we are shaped by the narratives that we craft for ourselves and others.

Bruce Johnson’s stories have appeared in Best Microfiction 2023, Wigleaf, Prime Number Magazine, The Cincinnati Review’s miCRo series, and The Adroit Journal. He lives in Santiago, Chile.