The Distance from Slaughter County - by Steven Moore (Paperback)

About the Book

"In a country as vast as the United States, place looms large. Steven Moore, a former soldier, writes about place, explicitly rural places, in a way that transcends specificity and speaks to the universal: whether the Midwest, Appalachia, or remote West, what Moore has to say about rural places speaks to anyone who has driven a lonely road at night, with nothing but darkness as a cushion between them and the emptiness that surrounds. Place and how we define it-and how it defines us-is a through line throughout the collection of eleven essays. Moore writes about where we come from and the disconnection we often feel between each other: between veterans and non-veterans, between people of different political beliefs, between regions, between eras"--

Book Synopsis

As a soldier and civilian, Steven Moore has traveled from the American Midwest to Afghanistan and beyond. In those travels, he's seen what place can mean, specifically rural places, and how it follows us, changes us. What Moore has to say about rural places speaks to anyone who has driven a lonely road at night, with nothing but darkness as a cushion between them and the emptiness that surrounds. Place and how we define it--and how it defines us--is a through line throughout the collection of eleven essays. Moore writes about where we come from and the disconnection we often feel between each other: between veterans and nonveterans, between people of different political beliefs, between regions, between eras. These pieces build into a contemplative whole, one that is a powerful meditation on why where we come from means something and how we'll always bring where we are with us, no matter where we go.

Review Quotes

"A series of impressionistic essays on the culture and history of middle America...Moore incisively catalogs the ironies and complexities of the Midwest. It's a subtle yet effective eye-opener."--Publishers Weekly

"Steven Moore's nuanced, hypnotic essays about growing up in the Midwest balance nostalgia with critique, sharing childhood memories that were formative to his identity . . . . If 'estrangement toward place ... is an estrangement toward self, ' these essays, with their sensitive probing of geographical identities, chart the way back to harmony."--Foreword Reviews (starred review)