Lost in the Furrows

by William R Soldan

Lost in the Furrows is a vivid collection set in a variety of troubled landscapes, in which stories unfold in a wide range of lengths and forms. These are the stories of those both on the fringe and in the thick—isolated, desperate people scrambling toward unknown horizons from pasts that linger and won’t lie still. Populated with gritty, deeply flawed characters struggling to persevere, this is a book in which the dark facets of humanity are on full display. In its pages we find children resisting tradition, parents treading murky waters, and others caught in the throes of everyday catastrophe, from the mundane to the monumental. Some of these folks relentlessly fight to forge new fates, while others resign themselves to playing out scripts written without their say. But even those who manage to escape or succeed in mending their broken lives, in the end, are left wearing the scars. “The truth? This is the best book I’ve read all year, with the most gifted storytelling I’ve enjoyed in quite some time. In this spellbinder, people get bruised, burnt, deflowered, disgraced, and some even get saved, each in ingenious ways, all highlighted with needle-sharp prose. William R. Soldan’s characters are thoroughly wrought, so much so that even the most hardscrabble and damaged character becomes someone to root for. It’s rare for me to say this about a story collection, but I didn’t want Lost in the Furrows to end, and I promise, you won’t want it to either.” —Len Kuntz, author of This Is Why I Need You“In William R. Soldan’s new collection, we find men beaten down by circumstance, women made fierce by necessity, barroom poetics to rival early Waits or Springsteen or Townes van Zandt, and—most surprisingly—a gentleness for these things that most writers only bestow on that which is much softer. Soldan’s steady gaze and ear for background musicality in plain language make this collection a delight you’ll want to read straight through and return to immediately to see what overflowing joys you’ve missed.”—Alex DiFrancesco, author of Psychopomps and All City “In Lost in the Furrows, William R. Soldan packs each story in explosives. “Like an uncoiled copperhead,” the surging momentum of his masterful prose penetrates us, then hurls us into the tragic microcosm of life. Here we experience strained relationships, addiction, violence, and even love within dark, evocative scenes that leave us always uncertain which face will at last turn toward us until the final haunting line. Soldan is brilliant, inimitable, and fierce. There is deep beauty to be found in these hard truths he never backs away from. Unforgettable!” —Meg Tuite, author of Meet My Haze

113 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2020

Reviews

[Meagan Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in the Furrows brings exactly what I love about Soldan's work: unblinking honesty - there is hardness here, there is grit and pain, shame and unflattering moments - we meet some of these characters on the worst days of their lives. But also empathy - this isn't poverty porn, these characters aren't stereotypes. Soldan isn't gentle, but he's not looking for shock value either. I appreciate the realism.

But, realism expressed in the most beautiful way. I am not surprised to read that Soldan is a poet. The prose is just meant to me read aloud.

My favourites: Training, Jonah, and Spring Cleaning.

My only complaint is that I wished there were more.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

When something affected him viscerally, my dad would say "that really knocked my dick in the dirt." This collection knocked my dick in the dirt a few times. These stories are unflinchingly gritty, and there's a surprising experimental streak running through them that finds Soldan playing around with non-traditional story structures and form in a way that rarely feels gimmicky and never gets in the way of emotional wallop.

[Wayne Fenlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

William R. Soldan's LOST IN THE FURROWS is a damn fine collection of troubled lives.

Take the brutal upbringing in the story TRAINING, the feelings of what you've got and how it's always gonna be that way in CAPTAIN, or the feelings of terror and panic in HUNTING SEASON, and then look at how far you've still to go in the book.
Yep, that's just the beginning.

It's a short book with a little poetry thrown in between. I thought it worked well.

It's beautifully written. Super sharp. And actually, the poetic feeling kinda runs all the way through. It never feels overplayed, though.

I want to add that even though there's a darkness and hardship running through these stories, there are glimpses of hope, too.

I've already mentioned some standouts above, but there's a lot of them.

I especially loved A WHOLE LOTTA HEARTACHE and STAIRMASTER. They just had that little something unexpected that I really connect with.

Buy this and buy his first collection, too.

Five stars.

That's two for two by the way.

IN JUST THE RIGHT LIGHT - his first collection- also got five stars.

[Colin Brightwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

No bullshit found in this small collection of prose (flash, prose poetry, short stories). No bullshit. And that’s what I enjoy so damn much about Soldan’s work - he goes the Larry Brown route: “lay it out straight.”

These stories are tough to digest, most of them. These stories are about folks at the end of their rope. Or maybe the rope has already been tightened and there’s no where to go but down. How Soldan writes these stories, though, is with heart. Bleak? Sure. But never heartless. Never sociopathic. There’s a hard-edged tenderness to his characters and places. That’s what makes good grit lit. You gotta see some sort of light when you’re buried under the rubble.

Soldan does that and more.

[Brenda Zyvith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book late last night with the intention of reading one or two stories. I finished it in one sitting. It was that good. Soldan presents characters so familiar to 21st century America. Their hard-luck lives of being born into impossible circumstances and/or the consequences of their bad decisions are a gut punch; they made me uncomfortable but I couldn’t look away. The writing is exquisite. These stories will stay with me for a very long time.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent sophomore followup to In Just the Right Light. This collection focuses on very short fictions, flash fictions, and prose poetry, and is as wonderful as the first collection.

[Daren Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty stories that ring true. There are a lot of lines in here I wish were mine. The story "You Get So Lonely" seems like something right out of Larry Brown's typewriter.