Today I am thrilled to welcome author Frank Bill to the show. His latest novel Back to the Dirt is one of my top picks for 2023. I had a great time talking with Frank about the book, how he manages his writing time, and his father's experiences in Vietnam.
Great chat, great guy! I can't wait to go back and read his other books.
Thanks for listening!
Kyler
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Book Details:
Frank Bill is back with a gritty, wrenching novel from deep inside the traumas of a broken American heartland.
Miles is a Vietnam veteran who’s worried he’s going to lose his job—and with it his tenuous grasp on a stable life—over a fight with a coworker. His PTSD and struggles to control his steroid-fueled violent tendencies also complicate his relationship with his girlfriend, Shelby, a stripper who only occasionally displays the proverbial heart of gold. She’s certainly kinder and more generous than her brother, Wylie, who has been implicated in the deaths of two local Oxy dealers and is currently on the run. When Wylie kidnaps Shelby and holes up in Miles’s country lair, it all threatens to become a bit too much for Miles.
As Frank Bill peels back the layers of Miles’s history, going deep into his memories of the Vietnam War, Back to the Dirt gets to the root of the traumas that have caused Miles and his community so much adversity. In this blistering novel, Bill reaches for the core values—living close to the land, working with your hands—that have been obscured by generations of neglect, drug abuse, and desperation. This is a profound and important story of an America that is only beginning to get its due attention—and Frank Bill is its most visceral, essential chronicler. (SOURCE: Macmillan Publisher)
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Episode Links:
IG: @frank_m_bill_
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Bookstores:
PURCHASE a Signed Copy of BACK TO THE DIRT. (Artifact Books)
PURCHASE from The Book Catapult.
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SLD Podcast Info:
Radio Broadcast every Monday on KPCR 101.9 FM Santa Cruz - 6PM - 8PM PST
Listen on APPLE Podcasts
Listen on SPOTIFY
Instagram: @saltlakedirt
