<p>Nickolas Butler's debut novel, <i>Shotgun Lovesongs,</i> has become an international bestseller and won numerous accolades, including France's Prix Page/America, previously won by Chad Harbach's<i>The Art of Fielding</i>. Now, in <i>Beneath the Bonfire,</i> he demonstrates his talent for portraying &quot;a place and its people with such love that you'll find yourself falling for them, too&quot; (Josh Weil, author of<i>The Great Glass Sea</i>).</p><p>Young couples gather to participate in an annual &quot;chainsaw party,&quot; cutting down trees for firewood in anticipation of the winter. A group of men spend a weekend hunting for mushrooms in the wilderness where they grew up and where some still find themselves trapped. An aging environmentalist takes out his frustration and anger on a singular, unsuspecting target. One woman helps another get revenge against a man whose crime extends far beyond him to an entire community. Together, the ten stories in this dazzling, surprising collection evoke a landscape that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has traveled the back roads and blue highways of America, and they completely capture the memorable characters who call it home.</p>