Outlet or a Heaven Full of Televisions
by Scott Sundvall
Category: Fiction

As a lowly shoe pimp in an outlet mall, Scott Sundvall casts a lyrical and interrogative eye on American culture. With both searing drama and comedic irony, Sundvall: takes a road trip to Mexico, where the meaning of life can be had for one dollar; meets Newt Gingrich in a divinely metaphorical D.C. bathroom; indulges in vodka and psychedelics to within three yards of death; faces one friends suicide attempt and anothers disappearance into rehab; and finally undergoes observation at a psych ward in the midst of an emotional epiphany. Full of anger and yearning in an existentially indifferent world, the 20-year-old author of this memoir with elaborations ultimately finds some clarity and purpose amid dead pigeons and clearance leather shoes.