WADE ROUSE
AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM
MISADVENTURES IN SEARCH OF THE SIMPLE LIFE (JUNE 2009)
by Wade Rouse
We all dream it . . .
Wade Rouse actually did it . . .
and maybe got rabies in the process.
Advance Praise for AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM:
“Gay or straight, any reader who has tried to ‘fit in’ somewhere outside his or her comfort zone will readily empathize with Rouse’s rousing and ultimately successful lifestyle change.” —Booklist
“This is David Sedaris meets Dave Barry . . . every page is good for a laugh.” —Library Journal
“A funny, good-natured chronicle of a fish out of water, slowly learning to breathe.” —Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Election, Little Children, and The Abstinence Teacher
Wade Rouse was living the life he’d always imagined for himself. He had a successful career, was in a great relationship, and spent his free time dining with friends at the newest restaurants, heading off to spin classes at state-of-the-art gyms, and enjoying all the urban perks St. Louis had to offer—until he found himself exhausted by the frenzy and fed up with his growing credit card bills. Tired of squeezing living into the schedule of life, Rouse began to dream of a simpler existence, much like that of Henry David Thoreau’s, as depicted in Walden. So he decided to make either the bravest decision of his life or the worst mistake since his botched Ogilvie home perm: uprooting it all and trying, as Thoreau did some 160 years earlier, to “live a plain, simple life in radically reduced conditions”—a hilarious, mishap-filled journey chronicled in AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life (Harmony Books; June 2, 2009).
Determined to create his very own Walden, Rouse; his partner, Gary; and their beloved dog, Marge; downsize their lives for the sake of their sanity and the good of their wallets, setting out to a small, knotty-pine cabin located in the back woods of rural Michigan. They strip away all superfluous luxuries (no TV, no magazines, no shopping malls) and begin to live a plain, simple life. But what happens when a self-obsessed citified gay man with a penchant for bronzer, he-capri's, chokers, and Parker Posey movies strikes out for rural America without even a copy of People to keep him sane? As Rouse quickly discovers, the simple life isn't so simple. His spirit, sanity, relationships, and Kenneth Cole pointy-toe boots are sorely tested as he battles bloodthirsty raccoons, endless Michigan winters, and the distinct whiff of boredom no firewood-scented Henri Bendel candle can hide. Despite his best intentions, there are some battles that Wade just can’t win (like getting the country store to carry brands such as Kashi and Morningstar Farms). And though he never becomes one with nature, learns to live off the land, embraces the local wildlife, or transforms into the light-hearted, cynicism-free spirit he sought to be, Wade ultimately discovers some things in the woods he never planned on finding: happiness and a home.
Rouse’s trademark tongue-in-cheek humor will have readers laughing out loud as they accompany him on the bumpy road to Wade’s Walden. Fresh, incisive, and wickedly funny, AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM is a hilarious and poignant memoir to be enjoyed . . . even if you don’t own a pair of waders.
About the Author
Wade Rouse is a writer living on the coast of Michigan. A graduate of Drury and Northwestern universities, he is the critically acclaimed author of the memoirs America’s Boy and Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler and a contributor to The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles. His essays have been published in numerous national magazines and collections.