Further Out Than You Thought

Combining the eloquence and raw sensuality of Jeanette Winterson with the romantic, renegade spirit of Patti Smith, Further Out Than You Thought is a taut and erotically charged literary debut, set against the chaos of the 1992 L.A. riots, about three people searching for identity and meaning from award-winning poet and indie bookshop co-founder Michaela Carter.

In the Neverland that is Los Angeles, where make-believe seems real, three dreamers find themselves on the verge of transformation. Twenty-five-year-old poet Gwendolyn Griffin works as a stripper to put herself through graduate school. Her perpetually stoned boyfriend Leo dresses in period costume to hawk his music downtown, and seems to be losing his already tenuous grip on reality. And their flamboyant best friend and neighbor, nightclub crooner Count Valiant, is slowly withering away.

When the city explodes in violence after the Rodney King verdict, the chaos becomes a catalyst for change. Valiant is invigorated, Leo plans a new stunt--walking into east L.A., naked, holding a white flag--and Gwen, discovering she is pregnant, is confronted by troubling questions. Can Leo become a good, dependable father? Can she leave the club life behind, or will the city's spell prove too seductive?

Combining poetry and sensuality with an edgy urban sensibility, Further Out Than You Thought is a celebration of life and a haunting story of love, friendship, and one woman's quest for redemption.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Published: 10/12/2017
ISBN: 9780062292377
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 06/02/2014
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2014
Romantic Times 08/01/2014 pg. 36 - Very Good
Booklist 07/01/2014 pg. 30