Anywhere but Here (2007)

A bitter newspaper reporter holds court in a decrepit bar in a dying Rust Belt town. A peasant family disintegrates within a tropical society on the verge of revolution. A bus driver laments his job during a uniquely monotonous trip through the dreary Midwestern landscape. A shell-shocked war correspondent wanders aimlessly in frigid French Canada. An Ecuadorian woman toils in an American sweatshop, only to return to despair and infidelity at home. These and other characters both ordinary and extraordinary populate Anywhere but Here. Set in a variety of locales -- from Ohio to South America -- the stories and vignettes that comprise this collection raise questions about identity, permanence, and the quiet struggle to find meaning in a seemingly senseless world. In an age of globalization and instant interconnection, Anywhere but Here offers a subtle examination of events and emotions that divide us but, at the same time, unite us in shared isolation.

"In his first collection of short stories, Ohio native and former Tampa Tribune reporter Tim Bugansky explores themes of transition and isolation through a broad cast of characters: an angry bus driver shuttling around college students, an Ecuadorian woman laboring inside an American sweatshop, a Midwest reporter slowly losing his idealism. ... Bugansky is at his best when he's describing the jungles of South America, disintegrating Rust Belt towns and the numbing depression we all share when something inside us is lost."
           --Alex Pickett, Creative Loafing Tampa

Check out this title on Amazon.
Read excerpts here.