4.5 Stars - Highly Recommended
Pgs: 36 (eBook)
Publisher: The Lit Pub
Release Date: March 1, 2012
The Drought is an extremely short and compelling chapbook that The Lit Pub will be releasing next week during AWP. And if you're smart, you'll run to their booth and snatch up a copy before they sell out. You can thank me later.
How Miles Harvey manages to stuff a complete novels-worth-of-content into a 36 page story, I'll never know. The sparse language, his attention to what's important, and the incredibly tight pacing all work together to pull you quickly and roughly into this nameless small town that is literally dying of thirst.
Stuck in a strange, stalled high pressure front, the town has not seen rain in over 2 years. Creek beds have dried up, farms and fields are useless, wildfires are still smoldering and flaring up unexpectedly, buildings are half buried beneath shifting dirt and dust... and the townspeople have raised their newly bearded weatherman to prophetic heights. But is he worthy of their reverence?
Unbeknownst to them, as he attempts to fan the flames of hope and discover how to bring about the end of the drought, he secretly strikes up an affair with the barber's wife. And we all know that in small towns like this one, where you can't go anywhere without bumping into an ex or a neighbor or coworker, keeping secrets is a difficult thing to do.
The Drought is a thing of beauty and was my first Lit Pub experience. I can't wait to get my hands on more of their stuff!
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