Bear County, Michigan: Stories

John Counts

Book cover for Bear County, Michigan: Stories
Book cover for Bear County, Michigan: Stories

Bear County, Michigan: Stories

Bear County, Michigan: Stories

John Counts

Member Benefits

  • 30% Off All Books - Savings that support storytellers, not stock prices.
  • Fight Book Bans - Every membership sends a book to LGBTQ+ youth in affected states.
Member Book Price
$24.00 $16.80
Non-Member Book Price $24.00

An annual membership will be billed at $48/year.

Discount applies to first-time members only. Already a member? Log in here.
View full details

Description

Following desperate characters in desperate circumstances in the rural Midwest

In these colorful, darkly comic stories, veteran journalist and crime reporter John Counts takes readers to an often-ignored part of the country: a fictional Great Lakes coastal town in northern Michigan defined by beauty and bleakness. The cast of characters in these connected stories ranges from addicts to backwoods misfits to ruined lumber families, all bound together by their desire to obtain something just out of reach. Big Frank breaks out of a rehab facility trying to outrun grief. The women in the village of Brotherhood grapple with sterility resulting from an environmental calamity. A local politician must convince her mother to leave a nudist colony. And in the final, sweeping story, a splinter group from the local tribe attempts to reclaim its ancestral land by force. The people of Bear County and their predicaments encompass the wildly original and yet totally ordinary truths about American life off the beaten track.

About the Author

JOHN COUNTS is an award-winning journalist who has published fiction in the Chicago Reader and Printers Row. A Michigan native, he grew up trout fishing in the Northwoods and playing in punk bands. He lives in Whitmore Lake with his family and works as an editor at MLive.com.

Critical Reviews

"Moving and inspiring, Bear County, Michigan is familiar and urgent in its telling as it recounts the struggles, complications, and wonder of the world outside our over-documented metropolis. This book demonstrates a complete and compelling understanding of character-driven storytelling and leaves the reader feeling as if they too are part of this wholly imagined, and yet viscerally real, world." --Joe Meno, author of Book of Extraordinary Tragedies

Named a most anticipated book of 2025 by the Chicago Review of Books

"John Counts understands rural Michiganians . . . [this] page-turner gives glimpses into the lives of his Michigan-based characters: the brave, the misunderstood and the criminal." --Detroit News

"Bear County, Michigan is simultaneously familiar and utterly new in its sharp execution . . . Counts is a prime example of Michigan's modern literary renaissance." --Chicago Review of Books

"Bear County, Michigan: Stories, grabs you by the throat and shakes you" --Lansing City Pulse

"Vivid narratives. . . capturing the rich complexities of small-town life in northern Michigan." --Manistee News Advocate

"Set in a fictional, rugged county where logging once boomed and small towns cling to faded memories, Bear County, Michigan weaves together characters on the margins of society . . . [an] empathetic portrayal of people on the edge." --Current Magazine

"With a sharp eye for telling detail, John Counts takes a hard look at hard lives. Prepare to be intrigued and troubled."--Ellen Airgood, author of Tin Camp Road

Publishing Information

Publisher: Triquarterly Books
Pub date: 2025-02-15
Length: 232 pages

The Allstora Membership

Membership Perks:

  • Save 30% on all online store purchases
  • Exclusive access to author's content
  • You pay less, but authors still earn double

Membership Terms:

First Month: $0.00
Monthly price: $5.00
  • To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
  • One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.