Publisher's Synopsis
Home, for any soldier, that single word became a mantra, repeated thousands of times, enveloping the images, aromas, love, and peace of places and times left behind when duty called.
For Diehl, the word also held the inescapable specter of an inflicted misery, a profound hurt that even the savageness of war had not managed to best. Originally published in 2010, this novel explores the coming-of-age of gay men growing up on the High Plains of Colorado and Wyoming. While Diehl sees possibilities for himself and his boyhood friend, Joe Tye, he finds himself seeking those possibilities alone, enlisting with the US Army and going to war in the Middle East. Upon his return, he must decide if he can continue to "love 'em all" or devote himself to just one man. And he must deal with circumstances he cannot control while he and his newfound companion, a Border Collie he names Jack, navigates the unkindness of strangers. This third edition replaces the original novel published by MLR Press in 2010, and the reissue of the novel in 2022 by Untreed Reads. MLR Press no longer publishes, and Untreed Reads no long publishes this genre. This edition has been edited and some material has been removed.
