The Dirt Chronicles

by Kristyn Dunnion

Lambda Literary Award finalist

A tattooed young man regains consciousness in the Don Jail, charged with his friend's murder. An anti-social office clerk falls for a handsome bike courier and abandons his former life. An Ojibwe teen hunts for her kidnapped girlfriend in an illegal sex trade ring and seeks revenge. This is the intense reality of The Dirt Chronicles , Kristyn Dunnion's stunning debut story collection. In these linked tales, urban outlaws in Toronto map out their plans to take over the world while living collectively in an abandoned chair factory, destined for demolition according to a real estate gentrification plan. Their community is infiltrated by the King, a dirty cop bent on obliterating the city's defiant underclass and exterminating the group's rogue members; in order to survive, they may have to betray what they value autonomy, friendship, and newly discovered concepts of freedom.

Audacious and loud, The Dirt Chronicles is a thrashing three-chord rejection of mainstream culture and the powers-that-be, and a combustible homage to class rebellion.

Genres: Short Stories, Canada, Queer, Anthologies, Novels, LGBT, Gay

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Kristyn Dunnion's academic pedigree is matched only by her punk credentials. She studied English and Theatre at McGill and holds a Masters in English. She's also the bass player for a dykemetal band called Heavy Filth and is known to host burlesque parties and drag king shows.

She currently lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish the publisher billed this book less as a collection of short stories and more as a post-modern novel. The threads of the stories form a captivating and wrenching tale that builds steam as it races to the finish. It's a window into a parallel world that exists right alongside we gentry, where life is perilous and precarious; where having a different values system makes you the target of the powerful.

Dunnion creates indelible characters -- she has a gift for character voice. The dark shadows that fall over the characters' lives don't chase out all moments of levity and joy. The story's villain, an incredibly vile dirty cop, is one-dimensional, and some readers might see that as a major flaw. Unfortunately, for those of us who follow the news in Canada, the villain's actions are not at all beyond belief.

An unexpected, a propos book.

[Bethany Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fast read. It's the literary equivalent of twice-baked fried chicken - not especially good for you, might make you sick, but crunchy and familiar. In most news stories about the homeless, the writers go overboard trying to make the homeless "good" so that normal people can sympathize with them. The author did not do this at all, and I respect her for that. These characters are wall-punchers, girlfriend-ditchers, informants, hookers, rage-fit-throwers, and so on.

This isn't a story of a chipper orphan who becomes homeless and makes it to a better lifestyle through sheer luck and optimism. It's a rough story, and gross in places - the sex scenes are not so erotic, more realistic, like how I guess an amateur porn movie might be - and I really hate the uptight vegan lifestyle that this book appears to convey, but it sort of made fun of the uptight vegan lifestyle at the same time... anyway, I liked it. It doesn't try too hard to be nice, more like it just kicks you a few times and spits on the ground, like actual homeless people.

And before anyone yells at me for generalizing the homeless population, I was without housing for about three years, so I'm not passing judgment. It is a hard population to write about accurately. Kristyn Dunnion did a fine job.

[John Kitcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made the mistake of buying a ton of second-hand books from a guy in Korea. I think he was gay, which is fine, but loads of these ef-in books (such as this) focus on being gay, a topic that i have no interest. I'm reading this for 1 day and unless im taken in by the author i'll be moving on to something more fun.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was nothing like I expected it would be -- it was better. Tough subject matter by times, but well worth it. This one is definitely a story I won't forget anytime soon.

[Krista (Mrs K Book Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isnt a story im interested in. Only read it for a challenge im doing. Its not too bad minus the swearing

[kaz ziemba lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to Goodreads, the publisher and the author for my free copy of this book. I won this through Firstreads and after a hiccup finally received my copy this week. An especially huge thank you to Jennifer and the team at Arsenal Pulp Press for taking care of me and sending me a new copy so promptly! She was very helpful after I contacted them about not receiving my copy.

I would like to start off by saying that anything in my review is strictly opinion and if you do not agree with me that is your right and choice.

From a technical aspect this book is very well polished. Great cover art and editing to make everything flow together. The synopsis is a little off base and certainly doesn't give you a very good picture of what the book is about and certainly is misleading when it calls the book a "story collection" or "linked tales". To me, it read like many other novels with many sub-plots running through it. The description might be there to cover what some may see as dead ends or lack of continuity. I only truly felt that way when it comes to Eddie and Ray-Ray. That story was left to blow away in the wind without any ending or closure and I think that's a shame really.

Some people have been praising or panning the gay/lesbian viewpoint of the book. Why is this an issue in the first place? My only comment in that regard is that I find it interesting that the only characters in the book (major and minor) that are straight are cast as "bad guys". The book as a whole is wonderful in its presentation of punk/street life. Gritty, dark and resonating with truth the writing truly gives the reader a sense of what some of these people go through on a daily basis.

All in all I did enjoy the book. It brought back many memories of my youth, some of the people I hung around with and the values that we held dear as young people out to change the world. It also saddens me that many of us seem to lose that spark as we get older or push further toward the fringe by raging against all of society. Although, I found the book interesting and engaging I don't think I will seek out any other books by this author. I will certainly recommend this book to some of my friends but it will tend to be a very select few.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Dirt Chronicles, Kristyn Dunnion writes brilliant, moving stories about a diverse crowd: anarchist punks, dumpster-diving freegans, a First Nations lesbian teenager, queer brown kids in foster care, trans sex workers, middle-aged ostensibly straight men with intense homoerotic cross-cultural bonds, and tireless activists living in abandoned buildings. The subjects of Dunnion’s stories are the kinds of people you don’t usually come across even in queer literature, those outlaws who are on the fringes of sub-cultures. The Dirt Chronicles is a stunning collection of often sexy but also challenging literary stories: challenging especially if you’re one of those “bougie poseurs” or the “gay-lesbian enemy—mainstreaming homos,” as one of the characters describes some party guests who want to listen to Beyonce...
See the rest of my review here: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...

[Igpy Kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dirt Chronicles features an array of characters from demographics we don't see enough of in fiction, though Dunnion brings in more characters and subplots than she seems to know what to do with. The book was hard to get into, as hopping from character to character meant it took a while to get invested in any one story, but there was a sweet spot in the middle of the book where I was hooked. However, as the book comes to a close, its subplots unravel — the pacing gets jerkier, some storylines are dropped rather than closed, and the ending seems out of place. Overall a rewarding read, but technically it has some serious flaws.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished my copy that I won last year from a Goodreads giveaway. I am usually a fast reader, and feel ashamed it took so long to finish this book. I think that it took until about halfway through the book for me to realize that this isn't a collection of short stories, and is basically a story that jumps from each character's perspective. I gave The Dirt Chronicles two stars, not due to the overall story (which was decent as it went on), but due to the fact that it took quite a lot of time to get to a point where I could follow that each "story" was actually more like a chapter and actually enjoy the flow of the book.

[Kala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book in a giveaway from Arsenal Pulp Press and I finally got around to reading it - glad I did, I enjoyed this collection quite a bit. Reads more like a novel than a collection of short stories, since many of the characters pop up in more than one story. Very dark and gritty book, but I tend to enjoy that so there you go!

[willowdog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Composed and concise inter-related short stories to create novelistic plot. First two stories are the best I have read this year.All stories told in first person by a number of different narrators. One plot line is not followed--Eddy--Does he rot in jail?

[Sassafras Patterdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

was so excited for this book to come out that i ordered it online because it released in canada before here in the states!