Fault Lines (Paperback)

Timothy Charles Smith

ISBN 10: 1950744310 / ISBN 13: 9781950744312

Published by Michigan Writers, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. Fault lines-geological, emotional, relational-are unseen tensionsshaping both landscapes and lives. They're quiet until underpressure, when they reveal what lies beneath the surface. Some liedeep underground-tectonic seams storing energy until release.Others permeate marriages, friendships, the choices we make inunfamiliar places, or the terrain inside our own heads. We imaginestability is the natural state of things, that ground stays firm andpeople follow the arcs we expect. Yet rupture isn't the exception, it's the rule. What we call solid is almost always provisional.The essays in this collection explore how trust forms, falters, and reforms under pressure. Each takes place in precarious terrain: the Mojave Desert, where you can lose your sense of direction inbroad daylight; the Tetons, where a rope and a partner's judgmentcan be the only things between you and a perilous fall; and theworld's largest nuclear weapons site, where what appears orderlyconceals the insidious.Each landscape reveals how fear sharpens attention, the waywe cling to others when the footing grows thin, and the way weredefine safety not as the absence of risk, but as the presence ofsomeone beside us when the way grows dangerous. A self-reflective, moving and emotional collection of essays that examine trust and responsibility against a background of the danger of challenging terrain. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781950744312

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fault Lines (Paperback)
• Publisher: Michigan Writers
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1950744310
• ISBN 13: 9781950744312
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Fault lines-geological, emotional, relational-are unseen tensions

shaping both landscapes and lives. They're quiet until under

pressure, when they reveal what lies beneath the surface. Some lie

deep underground-tectonic seams storing energy until release.

Others permeate marriages, friendships, the choices we make in

unfamiliar places, or the terrain inside our own heads. We imagine

stability is the natural state of things, that ground stays firm and

people follow the arcs we expect. Yet rupture isn't the exception,

it's the rule. What we call solid is almost always provisional.

The essays in this collection explore how trust forms, falters,

and reforms under pressure. Each takes place in precarious terrain:

the Mojave Desert, where you can lose your sense of direction in

broad daylight; the Tetons, where a rope and a partner's judgment

can be the only things between you and a perilous fall; and the

world's largest nuclear weapons site, where what appears orderly

conceals the insidious.

Each landscape reveals how fear sharpens attention, the way

we cling to others when the footing grows thin, and the way we

redefine safety not as the absence of risk, but as the presence of

someone beside us when the way grows dangerous.

About the Author

Smith's essays, short stories, and articles have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, andwebsites, including Chicago Story Press, The Brussels Review, and In Short: A Journal of FlashFiction. Other essays will appear this year in The Threepenny Review and Passages North. Hehas won a Westmoreland Award for fiction, and holds a master's degree in biology from theUniversity of Michigan.