In the 1950s in Fort William, Ontario everyone knew Dusty. He was handsome and hard and hot-tempered. He was a man his son Joe Fiorito loved and loathed with equal fervour. A letter carrier, a small-town trombonist and occasional crooner, a heavy drinker, Dusty was both the keeper and maker of the family's many stories. At the end of his life, as Dusty lay dying in hospital, Joe sat with him at nights, listening one last time to the family legends. Rich and compelling, The Closer We Are to Dying is Fiorito's unique tribute to a complicated man and an affecting testament to the strength of family ties.