Whiskey Boys: And Other Meditations from the Abyss at the End of Youth is a lively collection of literary essays about bars, booze, and traveling the American West. The book follows the author from small-town Illinois to the West Coast after he abandons a legal career to pursue writing. Much of the narrative concerns growing up and what’s gained and lost with maturity, while considering the challenges of living as a writer in a culture that’s skeptical of the creative arts. Other threads include travel, wanderlust, the psychological effect of place, and mortality.

Regent''s of Paris takes place in a struggling small-town auto dealership during the tumultuous week leading up to the annual Memorial Day sale—a week rife with doomsday warnings about the Obama Administration''s corporate bailout of General Motors, and the week which will ultimately seal the dealership''s fate. Paul Stenger''s thirtieth birthday is looming and selling cars is soiling his conscience, complicating his love life, and killing his songwriting ambitions. But Paul''s problems pale in comparison to those of Jennylee Witt, a young mother navigating her workplace''s rampant sexism, a chronically-ill daughter, a deadbeat spouse, and a crisis of faith—not to mention the wealthy local photographer with a penchant for cozy test-drives. Finally, Kent Seasons, the sales manager, has come to suspect his long-promised ownership stake is being stolen from him; worse yet, his teenage daughter has seemingly fallen for the suave owner of a rival dealership. In the cutthroat realm of the American car lot, even our most cherished dreams get the hard-sell, and nobody knows this better than those whose livelihoods hinge upon closing deals and sending rubber down the road.

Whiskey Boys: And Other Meditations from the Abyss at the End of Youth is a lively collection of literary essays about bars, booze, and traveling the American West. The book follows the author from small-town Illinois to the West Coast after he abandons a legal career to pursue writing. Much of the narrative concerns growing up and what’s gained and lost with maturity, while considering the challenges of living as a writer in a culture that’s skeptical of the creative arts. Other threads include travel, wanderlust, the psychological effect of place, and mortality.

Regent''s of Paris takes place in a struggling small-town auto dealership during the tumultuous week leading up to the annual Memorial Day sale—a week rife with doomsday warnings about the Obama Administration''s corporate bailout of General Motors, and the week which will ultimately seal the dealership''s fate. Paul Stenger''s thirtieth birthday is looming and selling cars is soiling his conscience, complicating his love life, and killing his songwriting ambitions. But Paul''s problems pale in comparison to those of Jennylee Witt, a young mother navigating her workplace''s rampant sexism, a chronically-ill daughter, a deadbeat spouse, and a crisis of faith—not to mention the wealthy local photographer with a penchant for cozy test-drives. Finally, Kent Seasons, the sales manager, has come to suspect his long-promised ownership stake is being stolen from him; worse yet, his teenage daughter has seemingly fallen for the suave owner of a rival dealership. In the cutthroat realm of the American car lot, even our most cherished dreams get the hard-sell, and nobody knows this better than those whose livelihoods hinge upon closing deals and sending rubber down the road.