Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere

Jacket Description/Flap: "[A] razor sharp eye...a master class in top-notch journalism. A."---"Entertainment Weekly," Editor's Choice 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-decor reality show, at a discount funeral home in a strip mall, or in the story of an armed man named Honey Bear on the hunt for his beloved but now missing sleeper sofa that he left in a storage unit. "Off Ramp" shows us America through the humorous gaze of Hank Stuever, who finds an unlikely beauty in the drab but glorious suburban frontier. "Wildly funny, caustic, subversive, and a little bizarre around the edges... A wonderfully original and confident voice."---Augusten Burroughs, author of" Running with Scissors" "These 'elsewheres, ' as he calls them, are Stuever's speciality.... They form a coherent, often funny, even lovely rendering of one man's curious embrace of the world."---"Washingtonian" "[Stuever] reaches to the core of the human condition.... A mixture of compelling writing style and deep reflection."---"The Denver Post" "His curiosity, taste for the offbeat, humility, and mellifluous phrasing combine to make this book...a reminder that reading a newspaper can sometimes be a joy and not some tedious civic chore."---"The Seattle Times" "Marvelous...worth reading for the writing alone."---"San Francisco Chronicle" 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"p0, andvarious radio programs. He lives in Washington, D. C. Biographical Note: 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. Publisher Marketing: 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-decor 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 Ramp shows us America through the humorous gaze of Hank Stuever, who finds beauty in the midst of the most unlikely and invisible lives and places. Review Citations:

Booklist 07/01/2004 pg. 1814 (EAN 9780805075731, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 05/17/2004 pg. 42 (EAN 9780805075731, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2004 pg. 434 (EAN 9780805075731, Hardcover)

Entertainment Weekly 07/23/2004 pg. 81 (EAN 9780805075731, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Stuever, Hank HANK STUEVER is an award-winning pop-culture writer for the Washington Post s style section. He is the author of Off Ramp, an essay collection, and has appeared on "Today", "The View, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, " and National Public Radio.