Off Ramp Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere

by Stuever, Hank

• ISBN13: 9780312424886
• ISBN10: 0312424884
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Picador

Summary

'Subversive and a little bizarre around the edges....Awonderfully original and confident voice.' -Augusten Burroughs, author ofRunning with Scissors andDry In his unique, funny, and haunting reports from 'Elsewhere,' Hank Stuever records the odd and touching realities of modern life in everyday places. Elsewhere might be revealed in the tract-house adventures of a home-dcor reality show, at a discount funeral home in a strip mall, or in the story of an armed man named Honey Bear in the hunt for his beloved but now missing sleeper sofa which he left in a store unit. Off Rampshows us America through the humorous gaze of Hank Stuever, who finds beauty in the midst of the most unlikely and invisible lives and places.

Author Biography

Hank Stuever's work is currently seen in The Washington Post, where he is a staff writer. He has twice been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing and has appeared on Today, MSNBC, and various radio programs. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Elsewhere, Next Exit: A Preface	xi
Traded Spaces
The Couch That Warped Space-Time	3	(9)
Panic Rooms	12	(13)
Modern Bride	25	(30)
Invisible Airplane
Prequel Dreams	55	(16)
The Josie Problem	71	(8)
Evil Queens	79	(4)
I Don't Know How to Love Him	83	(8)
Recallifornia	91	(15)
Wonder Woman's Powers	106	(13)
Everything Must Go
Other People's Stuff	119	(11)
Scooch Over	130	(6)
The Faster Lane	136	(10)
Sci-Fido	146	(8)
Living Alone	154	(7)
Off Ramps
All Faiths	161	(27)
Spirits Having Floated	188	(7)
Notes on Kamp	195	(11)
Service Is Needed in Layaway	206	(4)
Xanadu Tuesdays	210	(10)
Where Credit Is Due	220	(19)
Could It Happen Here
Nine-ish	239	(5)
Blonder Heads Prevailed	244	(10)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Chandra	254	(10)
Snipers 'n' Things	264	(4)
Missing Pieces	268	(10)
Unassigned Lands	278	(17)
Acknowledgments	295