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Sleeping Dogs
A Novel
Kevin Hazzard
A young man's flight into the South and away from himself
Will Lightfoot is leaving. He's packed everything he owns into a box and thrown it all away. Then, after stealing a bag of clothes and a pocketful of money from his roommate, he's boarding a Greyhound bus to Philly.
From Maine to Philly to the Poconos to Charleston and, finally, to Atlanta, Will is in search of fulfillment against the often empty promises of a nine-to-five existence and the so-called American Dream. Will winds his way south until he hits Charleston—an apparent paradise. It's here that he meets people just like him--young and energetic, intelligent and listless--particularly the irrepressible Harry. But after a summer of watching the waves and making drinks in the alien South, Will can no longer pretend that he's found what he's looking for.
When he receives a letter from his sister Penny inviting him to live with her in Atlanta, Will's dissatisfaction drives him to accept, with Harry in tow, and soon the pair take up writing restaurant reviews and carousing. Harry's uncompromising view of life and writing, his belief in working toward one's principles, fuels his work on a novel and Will's admiration. Harry, it seems, has found contentment.
But replacing one illusion with another is never enough and Will slowly retreats into alcohol, drugs, and malaise as deadlines pile around him. With Harry's abrupt departure after an agent rejects the novel, Will can no longer ignore the questions that have haunted him since Maine: What is real happiness and what should you sacrifice to find it?
Kevin Hazzard was born into a Catholic family in New York during the Summer of Sam. Years of living with a large, all-knowing family drove him to the Citadel and ultimately to writing. He and his wife Sabrina live in Atlanta.
Titles of Related Interest
A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street
The Picture Frame and Other Stories
read an excerpt at
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