Begin to Exit Here

This “laugh-out-loud” novel looks at “the absurdity of journalism through the eyes of a (chronologically) grown-up Holden Caulfield” (Kirkus Reviews).

In North Carolina, reporter Kurt Clausen delights both women and his editors with his sense of humor—that is, until they get tired of him and dump him. Beneath his wisecracking exterior, he’s really just a lonely alcoholic who can’t seem to stay employed. He loves newspapers—when he doesn’t hate them. But now he has a new girlfriend, Janice, and a new job, and he’s trying to give it his all.

As he puts his unique stamp on stories ranging from a KKK march to a gay police chief to a possibly violent kindergarten teacher, Kurt may be about to turn things around—or he may be about to mess it all up again—in this novel filled with “hilariously on-target gibes at journalistic practice” that “admirably balances humor with serious feeling” (Kirkus Reviews).

“A cast of sympathetic characters and nearly nonstop wisecracks and one-liners highlight this spirited and appealing first novel.” —Library Journal

“Funny and touching.” —The New York Times Book Review