BODOCK

This debut collection chronicles tensions below the surface in a Mississippi town.

In telling a series of stories set in the titular town, Busby explores a wide range of styles, from stark realism to unpredictable surrealism. Throughout, he keeps things firmly rooted in a sense of place, with disputes over the land itself providing some of the stories’ conflicts. The first sentence of “Mistletoe,” which opens the book, makes this clear: “Noon, and another dump truck drove by the farmhouse on County Road 336 between the Thaxton and Friendship communities in Claygardner County.” Later, the author invokes local retail to summon a similar you-are-there feeling. Regardless of the style of story they’re in, plenty of Busby’s characters have challenges, including a meth business in “Steer Away From That Darkness,” a sex-crimes conviction in “Frison the Bison,” and the way that “Mistletoe” protagonist Raymond has weathered amputations from a lifetime of smoking. (There’s some crime fiction in this book’s DNA as well.) Other motifs run throughout the book: Sick or injured animals play a large part in both “Heartworms” and “Fraternal Twins,” often to an emotionally wrenching effect. At times, the stylistic range works against the collection; there’s no shortage of individually powerful moments, but the cumulative effect feels somehow reduced. There’s no doubt that Busby can tell a compelling story and evoke a striking image, though, as with this depiction of a sick dog: “her belly inflated this week and kept on swelling, her fur stretched taut around her ribcage, her backbone defined as knuckles.” If this is where Busby’s literary career is beginning, it suggests even better things to come.

An uneven collection, but when it hits home, it’s devastatingly precise.