Dog on Fire

Out of a Shakespearean-wild Midwest dust storm, a man rises. Just a glimpse of him, says his sister; every inch of him, says his guilt-filled lover. Close your eyes, says his nephew. What about it? asks his father. The cupboard is filled with lime Jell-O, and there are aliens, deadly kissing, and a restless, alcoholic mother who carries a gun. Every family is this normal, insists the narrator. Whoever noticed my brother, with a family as normal as this? the beleaguered sister asks. Against the smoky prairie horizon and despite his seizures, a brother builds a life. Imbued with melancholy cheer, Dog on Fire unfolds around a familys turmoil, past loves, and a mysterious death.