The Smell of Good Mud explores the grit and splendor of collective living, queer parenting and other radical choices in the conservative landscape of Oklahoma.


Lauren Zuniga has made a name for herself for fearlessly confronting legislators and being an ambassador for the Heartland. This collection is the underbelly. No emotion is spared. No image is lost. It is a field guide to blisters and curtsies. It is a chronicle of women/children/animals coming together in a house named Clementine.


Praise


"A voice that can change the game"

- Daily Kos



"She is brilliant. Her poem made me cry"

- Governor Brad Henry



"Dear Lauren, it is impossible to read your book without falling in love with you. I stopped reading before the end so I wouldn't show up on your Oklahoma porch wearing a baby blue tuxedo, ring in hand, begging you to stuff a fistful of cake in my mouth."

- Andrea Gibson