Off Ramp : Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere

by Stuever, Hank

• ISBN13: 9780805075731
• ISBN10: 0805075739
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-06
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Summary

'm the one they send to the trailer park outside Chimayo, New Mexico, to see the place where the guy went crazy and shot somebody. I'm the one who gets sent to the monster truck show, Lollapalooza concerts, the world's biggest bridal fair. Readers warm to my style . . . unless it drives them to apoplexy.'-H.S. A few years ago, Washington Post readers woke to a new voice: Hank Stuever. It was a little like meeting the brilliant, absolutely original child of David Sedaris and Joan Didion. Now, everyone can read his hilarious, haunting reports from 'Elsewhere'-the everyday places where the odd and touching realities of modern life occur. Elsewhere can be glimpsed in the paved-over beauty of the New Jersey Turnpike. Or sighted throughout the bumpy, incredible journey of an Albuquerque couple bound toward the late great state of holy matrimony. It can be found in the tale of an armed man named Honey Bear on the hunt for his beloved but now missing sleeper sofa which he left in a storage unit. And it can be felt, unbelievably, in the quietly beautiful reflection on Oklahoma City, Stuever's hometown, after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. The Couch That Warped Space-Time is human and unforgettable; Stuever's people dance to different drummers and new, unusual tunes. Now appearing: a fresh journalistic take to fit our slightly off-kilter times.

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