THE DISTANCE FROM SLAUGHTER COUNTY

LESSONS FROM FLYOVER COUNTRY

Oregon Book Awards finalist in creative nonfiction

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University of North Carolina Press
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Broadway Books (Portland, OR)
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As a soldier and civilian, Steven Moore has traveled from the American Midwest to Afghanistan and beyond. In those travels, he's seen what place can mean, specifically rural places, and how it follows us, changes us. What Moore has to say about rural places speaks to anyone who has driven a lonely road at night, with nothing but darkness as a cushion between them and the emptiness that surrounds. Place and how we define it—and how it defines us—is a through line throughout the collection of eleven essays. Moore writes about where we come from and the disconnection we often feel between each other: between veterans and nonveterans, between people of different political beliefs, between regions, between eras. These pieces build into a contemplative whole, one that is a powerful meditation on why where we come from means something and how we'll always bring where we are with us, no matter where we go.

“This is a stunning collection of essays, one that I would not only enjoy rereading but one I might someday teach. Moore writes focused and mobile narratives capable of embarking upon satisfying digressions and vigorous wanderings. I look forward to reading more of his work.”
—Matthew Vollmer, author of All of Us Together in the End

"Mr. Moore is to be congratulated on the beauty and meaningfulness of this work. The Distance from Slaughter County is one of the most thought-provoking considerations of how place shapes us and how we, in turn, shape place that I have ever read. Every reader will learn something about the complexities of the Midwest from this book, even those who have always lived there, and that's a big part of its magic."
—Sarah Einstein, author of Mot: A Memoir