Stealing Away: Stories

Book excerpt: “It was the summer before senior year when Danny and I decided the adults in our lives had irredeemably failed us, and so we hit the road.” A girl pins her hopes on her boyfriend’s illegal scheme to run away from a dead-end, small-town life. Two orphans find meaning in a discarded canteen and the death of a stray dog in the Mexican desert. Obsessed with a local murder story, an accountant imagines the crime and questions her marriage. Heartbroken and unhinged, a delirious traveler crosses borders in the Middle East. A cynical backpacker tests his moral resolve in South America. Haunted by a childhood tragedy, a man returns to his small-town neighborhood for answers. Set in places from the Midwest to the Middle East, these thoughtful twelve stories feature characters struggling to define home and purpose as they are forced to choose between escape and making peace with their lots. “Whatever scene Revolinski drops his reader into, you feel like you are really there.” “STEALING AWAY is a lush, shimmering collection... A fantastic debut... Revolinski proves with this book that he has incredible range, wisdom, and empathy.” — Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith “With the insight of a world traveler and the heart of a kind Midwestern neighbor, Revolinski's dark, engrossing stories find flickers of hope in a disorienting world. He has a knack for realistic dialogue and an empathetic heart for Midwestern folks on the harder edge of ‘working class.’” — J. Ryan Stradal, author of The Lager Queen of Minnesota