The burning ground - Adam O'Riordan

A masterful debut short story collection from the award-winning, critically-acclaimed poet Adam O'RiordanIn these eight stories, an English writer focuses his gaze on America's West Coast, moving from fractured lives in remote, sun-scorched towns to the charged hum of Venice Beach. A man visits his long-distance lover in Los Angeles and forges an unexpected bond with a fellow traveller on the way; a teenager interviews a businessman for his school newspaper and their paths continue to cross, throughout life; the foreman of a desert building project embarks on a journey down the Pacific Coast Highway and into California's underworld when his employer's daughter goes missing; a lonely widower reflects on the past and confronts a disturbing and long suppressed memory; a divorced father tries to reconnect with his son on a hunting trip; an artist finds peace in exile after the disintegration of an affair; and itinerant Brits discuss love and acting in downtown LA. Written with an outsider's keen eye, this collection of stories paints an intimate portrait of diverse lives, in a work of remarkable beauty and poignancy.