Beyond Vérité

Abstract

Beyond Vérité is a collection of fictional short stories exploring what happens when characters' perceptions of truth get shaken up. Landscape plays a central role in this collection, from the deceptively dangerous beauty of Yosemite, to a reserve in Madagascar where the surreal becomes possible, to the Mojave Desert where it can be difficult to determine reality from illusion--or fact and fiction, as in the "Hole Card," a retelling of the legend of Death Valley Scotty. In each story, the landscape is harsh yet indifferent and reflects the characters' current struggle, from Bryan's relationship with his mother in "Ranger Danger," to a zoo curator's more recently lost son in "Keeper," to Lindsay's compulsive fixation in "Beyond Vérité," to Meg's pervasive guilt in "Why They Call It Death Valley."