Chemical Valley

Description

Winner of the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction A Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award Finalist A 2022 ReLit Award Finalist A Siskiyou Prize Semi-Finalist AMiramichi ReaderBest Fiction Title of 2021Out there by the dock the ocean and the air are just layers of shadow and darkness. But the creatures flesh hums through the darka seep of violet in the weeping night.From refinery operators to long term care nurses, dishwashers to preppers to hockey enforcers,Chemical Valleys compassionate and carefully wrought stories cultivate rich emotional worlds in and through the dankness of our bio-chemical animacy. Full-hearted, laced throughout with bruised optimism and sincere appreciation of the profound beauty of our wilted, wheezing world,Chemical Valleydoesnt shy away from urgent modern questionsthe distribution of toxicity, environmental racism, the place of technoculture in this ecological spasmbut grounds these anxieties in the vivid and often humorous intricacies of its characters lives. Swamp-wrought and heartfelt, these stories run wild with vital energy, tilt and teeter into crazed and delirious loves.Praise forChemical ValleyIn this courageous collection, David Huebert holds little back as he weaves superbly crafted stories of the dark, difficult, and gritty reality of being human. Whether it be the destructive impact we have on our environment, each other, or ourselves, Huebert tackles this challenge with intelligence and compassion, both in his language and style, and in the empathy with which he portrays the human experience. The intertwining of ugliness, beauty, metallic cold and human warmth, and destruction and hope, creates a visceral, hopeful, and rewarding experience for the reader.Alistair MacLeod Prize Jury StatementHueberts uncanny facility for spinning densely poetic fiction out of the tawdry horror of twenty-first-century life has made him one of the most captivating authors of the past decade.Literary Review of CanadaHuebert has a razor-sharp wit and an exacting eye for human foibles A masterful assemblage of environmentally minded tales.KirkusHueberts prose shines, frequently catching the reader off guard with startling but memorable turns of phrase and delirious imaginative leaps. And while the manic energy, eccentric humour and wry observations on life and love keep us entertained, the books rich emotional core draws us in, touching us at the most profound level.Miramichi ReaderHuebert is a gifted short story writer. His characters do contain multitudes, each story a set of worlds. Collectively, they reflect our times, and help us contemplate the most dire of threats to our singular habitable planet.Atlantic Books TodayEvery story inChemical Valleyis uncanny, with a surprising dose of optimism nurtured by the bonds we share with each other as well as with the non-human world of which we are a part. What I have not discussed is the humour and heart throughout Hueberts collectionit is an astounding feat to grapple with the reality we live in while also choosing to affirm the beauty around us. One can only hope that Huebert is working on a novel.University of Toronto Quarterly[A] masterful exploration of dirty nature writing Chemical Valleys stories, for all their dystopian demons, are balanced by Hueberts insistence on penning his characters with an empathetic hand. His gaze may be harsh, like the reality we inhabit, but his love for his fellow man, and our desperate desire for connection, is unwavering.Hamilton Arts & LettersHueberts stories feel polished, elevated and expansive. Their intensity invites readers to reread, whether out of necessity or enduring curiosity Huebert digs deep, things get messy, and theres often a glitter of unanticipated discovery in the recesses of his storiesbut only for the potential to illuminate another layer of darkness.Marcie McCauley,EventDavid Hueberts short stories explore environmental dread and creeping climate chaos, but also the power of love and community in a damaged world.Laura Lynch, CBC What on Earth[D]ark, disturbing, excellent As a result of [Hueberts] poetic literary powers, I found myself mesmerized by the words and stories in this book, despite the grim contents. Or, even, because of them.Consumed By InkThought-provoking, smart, and frighteningly surreal, David HuebertsChemical Valleyis a brilliantly crafted collection of short stories that confront the violence of human nature in the natural world.The Farside ReviewHuebert works to create a world that seems almost futuristic then slowly reveals that he speaks of now and how our choices are destroying our health and our planet. He makes us feel the emotional side of well-developed characters as they face the world in fear and wonder.bUneke MagazineThe stories are varied, featuring oil refinery workers, teenage climate activists, long-term care nurses, and more, showing the issues and intricacies of their lives in lush detail. The grim explorations of wealth inequality, illness, and bereavement are counterbalanced by the rich and lyrical prose, providing heartfelt insights into todays damaged world and the individuals who inhabit it.ZYZZYVAChemical Valleyis full of stories that are beautiful, gross, depressing and uplifting all at once. Through the use of dazzling language and complex characters, this deeply thoughtful collection will truly get you thinking.Dalhousie GazetteThe characters in Chemical Valleylive in a world that has been molded and shaped by neoliberalism and the oil industry Its a situation that could easily elicit nihilism, doom, and mourninga kind of eco-griefand yet, the various stories in this collection strive and yearn towards a sublime toxicity that finds beauty amidst the debris, and accordingly, in the lives of its inhabitants.Peter Szuban,PRISM InternationalChemical Valleyboth in terms of its storytelling and presentationshines on just about every meaningful level.Always A CriticBy delving into the lives of a range of characters, feral hockey players, grieving shift-workers, and love-sick teenagers, Huebert asks an urgent questionhow to survive in a world that values chemicals and capitalism over human life? Lively, affecting, tragic, careful, and shot-through with humor, the stories seeped under my skin. I wont forget them any time soon.Claire Cameron, author ofThe Last NeanderthalThese stories are a making and unmaking, a feeling into the world and then a kind of visceral wrenching so that all that is or was once living unwinds and flashes of story break freebinding the reader into the flesh of a burdened earth, still breathing. An ecstatic surrender of beloved flesh, and dream, and carbon beings through geological and human (altered) time. Huebert tinkers human time across industrial effigies that make and break and will one day also be brokena dream not yet quite dreamt, but this work is part of the dreaming. This collection is, in Hueberts own exquisite play of words, beautiful and polluted, toxic and sublime.Anglique Lalonde, author ofGlorious Frazzled BeingsVisceral, intelligent, and original, David HuebertsChemical Valleydisplays a deep empathy and understanding of human relationships and a profound concern for our world. I was struck by how Huebert can take the grittiest of subject matter and turn it beautiful with his lyrical, alchemical prose. The stories in this collection are saturated with imagery and full of exquisite, textured language: this is the kind of writing that deserves to be read closely.Shashi Bhat, author ofThe Most Precious Substance on Earth