{"product_id":"9781566892698","title":"Drowning Tucson","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this “vividly rendered novel-in-stories” (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAaron Michael Morales “wrestles with nothing less than the parameters of the human soul” (Luis Alberto Urrea).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Set in Tucson’s toughest neighborhoods during the late 1980s, this explosive debut follows the disintegration of the Nuñez family and the people whose paths they cross. From crooked cops to prostitutes plying their trade along the “Miracle Mile,” each person’s destiny is linked by crushing poverty, the brutal codes of the street, and the harsh nature of the desert. In this place of drought and flood, “civilization” is every bit as dangerous as its surroundings.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Fast-paced and unrelenting, each chapter draws the reader in with the first line and doesn’t let go until the heartrending finale. Like a southwest version of HBO’s \u003ci\u003eThe Wire\u003c\/i\u003e, this riveting novel is an episodic portrait of a desperate, violent America, populated by characters as lethal as they are sympathetic.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Genuinely relevant and never gratuitous, Morales writes about the side of humanity that society fears and ignores. Without judgment, he portrays the lives of young gangbangers, despondent mothers, gay teenage runaways, corrupt preachers, twisted pedophiles, murderous vigilantes, and broken families—all just trying to get by.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “The bleakly human debut of the new Bukowski.” —\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eDrowning Tucson\u003c\/i\u003e is desperate, full of misery of the degree you might expect reading turn-of-the-century Russian literature . . .[and] more than merely notable. It’s a beautiful fever dream deftly actualized.” —\u003ci\u003eBookslut\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “The meek don’t inherit the Earth in Aaron Michael Morales’ unsettling debut novel, \u003ci\u003eDrowning Tucson\u003c\/i\u003e. They’d be lucky just to cling to it until it’s shoveled over their faces.” —\u003ci\u003eTucson Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Coffee House Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146643357936,"sku":"9781566892698","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781566892698_p0.jpg?v=1763766917","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781566892698","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}