The stories in I'm Here dramatize life in the Alaskan interior, describing the difficult lives of people in Fairbanks, Alaska as they move through the long, brilliant days of summer into the deep winter months. These are characters living on the tenuous edge of things—on the economic edge caused by poverty and disillusion, on the dividing line between outsider and insider, and on the literal edge of the Alaskan wilderness. The stories in this collection move from beauty to danger and back again with decisive grace, although the lingering effect is not shock, but empathy toward people simultaneously alien and oddly familiar.

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“The landscape that emerges in David Nikki Crouse's I'm Here: Alaska Stories is one of rough-hewn beauty, fitted out with unforgettable characters who have gotten themselves into trouble of their own making. In these masterful stories, setting serves as a window to the human heart, reminding us that to ask, 'Where are you from?' is really to ask, 'Who are you?' An outstanding collection.”

— Anthony Varallo, author of What Did You Do Today?