Bleachers

<p>In <em>Bleachers</em> the debut short fiction collection by award-winning poet Joseph Mills fifty-four stories take place during two youth soccer games capturing the thoughts concerns realizations and perspectives of the parents on the sidelines and in the stands. As these spectators watch (or don’t watch) the players on the field their narratives interweave to form a portrait of community and of parenting—always unpredictable often complicated and rarely what it seems. From A to Z (“Aging” to “Zidane”) <em>Bleachers </em>can be read as a primer on parenting and family as well as a paean to sports. If as Dr. King said Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America then Saturday morning may be the most integrated as families gather to experience the victories and losses both great and small of the game that brings them together "forming then breaking apart then reforming . . . . temporarily cohering" as a team. </p>