At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life

I'm adding a 5 star review to Wade Rouse's ode to Thoreau and his Walden Pond experience. Rouse and his partner, Gary, moved from the city lights(?) of St Louis to the Saugatuck, Michigan rural area. Buying a cabin on four acres outside the city limits, both men made friends with animals, other people - both year-rounders and summer residents - and, themselves. Rouse writes with an often dead-panned wit that had me - queen of dead-pan wit lovers - often laughing out loud. Rouse is never - well, almost - mean spirited about his experience. In addition to learning about his current-day self, he also comes to terms with his childhood, spent in the Ozarks of Missouri. He was the "odd" child, much more interested in shopping and other, less-than-"masculine" pursuits. He was raised by a mother and grandmother who were very supportive of young Wade, but he still had to deal with the outside world. This is a finely written, mostly-funny, always-wise, book. And, if you like this book, you might want to look at the book I'm linking to below. It's also hysterical. Enjoy both books... On a street called Easy, in a cottage called Joye (Hardcover) by Gregory White Smith Gregory White Smith (Author)

I read Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler first, and thought it was great. When I looked to see if Wade Rouse had written anything else, I was thrilled to find this new book. First of all, he went out and did something I have always dreamed about - chucking the city life and immersing oneself in rural culture. I read a lot of books on this topic, and this is the funniest one by far, but it's more than funny. Wade Rouse seemed pretty comfortable in his city life. He wasn't escaping. He was trying something new. This book is above all about taking the leap. He doesn't hold back at all. He sets goals and chronicles the quest to achieve them. Obviously some things will never change - he will always wear fabulous clothes, no matter how inappropriate for the task at hand, and will describe them in meticulous detail. I suspect he will always seek comfort in junk food. But I also think he will courageously place himself in challenging situations and force himself to deal, and grow - not because it might make a funny book, but because it's part of who he is. Wade Rouse grew up with a grandmother who read Walden to him. He has always had that longing for the simple life within him. He knows it will be a struggle to give up his lattes and designer shopping expeditions, but he wants to try it. Yes, it will also make a good book, and Wade Rouse looooves to make fun of himself. It is funny, touching, and inspiring. And I am so glad that one of the things he learned about himself is that he wants to continue to be a writer of memoirs. This is a guy who can find the humor in anything. Highly recommended.

"there's a raccoon on my head. and i don't particularly look good in hats. especially when they're still moving." and that is how wade rouse got me started on his memoir, laughing my you know what off. this is what it is all about. you can either feel sorry for the 40 year old gay men who is freaking out about life, or you can laugh about all the funny things we encounter in life that he so eloquently puts on the page. if you live in new york or los angeles, you might wonder what in god's name a guy in a midwestern city feels all that pressured about? but a gay man in any city is still a gay man! and as you follow his ten "life lessons," all written down on napkins while high on caffeine, you will realize that whether we live in a city of 300K or 30 million, a city is a city is a city. you still have to give up LOGO, and kenneth cole, and, yes, the boys. ok, so the last one is not part of the ten. the point is, by reading about his frustrations one rediscovers what is essential. at the end of the day, do we really need cable? maybe not. but for some us, a neighbor to hear our scream is nice.

When was the last time you read a memoir that begins with an angry raccoon perched on the author's head? That's the opening scene of Wade Rouse's new book and one of many, both hilarious and wise, that make this a memorable story about living your dreams and in the process discovering a new life. Despite the inspiration supplied by his grandmother's passion for Henry David Thoreau's WALDEN, Wade Rouse is an unlikely heir to the mantle of that nature-loving philosopher. Although he grew up in the Ozarks, the flamboyantly gay Rouse confesses that he had transformed himself "from a country rube into a sophisticated city boy, a Starbucks-swilling, pashmina-wearing, catch-a-Parker-Posey-independent-movie kind of guy." Frustrated in his day job as a public relations director at a St. Louis prep school, he yearns to become a full-time writer. So in 2005, he persuades his salesman partner Gary to abandon urban life for a small house they christen "Turkey Run" on three and one-half acres of land just outside the small town of Saugatuck, Michigan, a resort town and burgeoning artist community about a mile from Lake Michigan. Wade and Gary soon discover the chasm that separates life in the tourist season and the reality of a Michigan winter, and the fun begins. Before embarking on his adventure, Rouse grabs a pile of coffeehouse napkins and compiles a list of "new life goals, one per napkin, that would match the tenets and principles that Thoreau set forth in WALDEN." The book's succeeding chapters end with a scorecard in which he judges his success by assigning a point to "Wade's Walden" or "Modern Society." Rouse's goals range from the mundane ("learn to love the snow") to the practical ("live off the land" and "nurture our country critters") to the profound ("rediscover religion" and "redefine the meaning of life and my relationship with Gary"). What gives his memoir its real zest are the sparks that fly when his wish to "eschew the latest entertainment and fashion for simpler pursuits" meets stiff resistance as he tries to "let go of my city cynicism." For someone who is used to hanging out at Kenneth Cole and Banana Republic and is a devoted fan of "I Love Lucy" ("What would Lucy do?" is a frequent mantra) and Erma Bombeck, it's an understatement to describe Rouse's immersion into rural life as a culture shock. It isn't long before he has had to shed his normal haunts to frequent the local feed store on Saturday morning ("This is like replacing meth with Bubble Yum") or attend a potluck church supper that inspires a poignant recollection of the painful week he spent at church camp as a teenager. In one unsparing, often riotously funny self-portrait after another, Rouse tells of his grim battle with the relentless Michigan snow, his encounters with the local wildlife (the aforementioned raccoon gets a curtain call later in the book), his stab at ice fishing, and his attempt with Gary to plant a vegetable garden, among other adventures. Like his pre