Outside In

''Blake said the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom--but he never spent time in Put-in-Bay, where the pleasure-hungry hero of Doug Cooper's Midwest saga Outside In goes to forget himself and refind his wild side. For this debut novel, Cooper has fashioned a modern parable of Shangri-La morphing into the Inferno. The author owns a poet's eye and an ear for the funny/tragic dialogue of the American lost and searching worthy of comparison to David Mamet, Sherwood Anderson, and Joy Williams. A deep, entertaining read about all the truths that find us when we're looking the other way.''
--Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight, Bad Sex on Speed, and Happy Mutant Baby Pills

''Rarely does an author capture the frenzied descent into drug and alcohol abuse as Doug Cooper does in his tumultuous novel, Outside In. A story of disillusion drowned in excess, tempered by the decisions we make to survive another day. A searing debut.''
--Stephen Jay Schwartz, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of Boulevard and Beat

''This modern take on finding oneself shows readers what can happen when you completely lose control and become someone you are not. It reminds us all of Shakespeare's counsel, 'To thine own self be true.'''
--Weldon Long, author of the New York Times bestseller The Power of Consistency

''Outside In takes readers on a wild ride with the final destination being a rediscovered sense of self.''
--Colleen Hoover, author of the New York Times bestseller Slammed

''Doug Cooper writes authoritatively about the ease with which circumstances conspire to ensnare a promising young teacher into a lush life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It remains to be seen how easy it will be for him to get himself out-- or if he will just become another bleached-out lotus-eater in the Florida sun. A charismatic cast of characters populates this promising novel from a rising talent.''
--Stuart Smith, CEO, Central Recovery

''Brad Shepherd's teaching career wasn't exactly promising to begin with, and when it ends suddenly, he takes his unexpected freedom as an opportunity to escape to the freewheeling Put-In-Bay, Ohio, where he immediately begins experimenting with alcohol and drugs, hooks up with people his parents would definitely say were the wrong sort, and generally starts on a downward spiral that can only end in disaster. Is Brad wracked with guilt over a student's death, the incident that ended his teaching career? Will he find a way to pull himself out of the abyss and find the man he truly is? This is a coming-of-age story about someone a decade older than the genre's usual protagonist, and it's quite good--nicely written with a cast of realistic characters (the seductive girl, the affable druggie, the street musician who takes the younger Brad under his wing) and situations that would fit into a more traditional YA novel but that carry a little adult baggage. A very good first novel from someone worth keeping an eye on.''
---- David Pitt, Booklist

''Rarely does an author capture the frenzied descent into drug and alcohol abuse as Doug Cooper in his tumultuous novel Outside In. A story of disillusion drowned in excess, tempered by the decisions we make to survive another day. A searing debut.'' ---Stephen Jay Schwartz, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of Boulevard and Beat