The heat of it all: A collection of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction

The Heat of it All is a thematically organized collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, drawing upon the author’s experiences as a war combatant, firefighter/paramedic, and farmer, as well as a son, husband, father, and grandfather. The book examines emotional, ethical, and metaphorical heat: the fires of temptation, desire and fear, the ongoing chemical burn of trauma and its aftermath, and the healing warmth of family love. In particular, the author explores and challenges traditional notions of masculinity and heroism, inspired not only by his own ambivalence about these notions and his experiences in traditionally heroic occupations, but also by classic and contemporary writers, who use their writing to not just record but investigate their own and their characters’ deep ambivalence about what it means to live a life of duty and service to others, what it means to be a contemporary American male