The Excursion - by Peter James Stouffer (Paperback)

About the Book

A "Rust Belt Pastoral" retelling of Wordsworth. Three men debate hope versus despair in modern Michigan. Includes a full Reader's Companion, field guide, and discussion questions.

Book Synopsis

HOPE IS NOT AN EMOTION. IT IS A DISCIPLINE.

In the fading light of the American Rust Belt, where foreclosure signs outnumber the trees and the "gig economy" has left a generation adrift, three men set out on a walk to find the solid ground beneath their feet.

Jim Miller is a thirty-two-year-old freelance writer paralyzed by the "Millennial Drift." Over-educated, under-employed, and anxious, he watches the world through the cracked screen of his phone, waiting for a signal that never comes. But when he meets Samuel Walker, a retired Land Surveyor who reads the scripture of the earth through his grandfather's brass transit, Jim is pulled into a journey that will change his life.

Samuel believes in the Grid. He believes that even when the vinyl siding rots and the banks fold, the "Iron Pin" buried deep in the earth holds true. But to prove it, he must take Jim into the dark heart of Rose Township-into the "Fen"-to confront who has given up on everything.

Dr. Elias Thorne was once a respected Professor of Political Science. Now, he is "The Solitary," a grieving nihilist living in a sinking shack, arguing that the social contract is void and the only logical response to a broken world is to let the swamp take.

What follows is a modern epic of debate and discovery.

From the tragic "Ghost Subdivision" stalled by the 2008 crash, to the moss-covered stones of Lakeside Cemetery, and finally to the warm, chaotic kitchen of a local farmhouse, these three men argue for the soul of the community. They confront the opioid crisis, the polarization of politics, and the quiet heroism of the working class.

This is a story about the difference between a ruin and a wreck. A ruin has dignity; a wreck just rots.

Inspired by William Wordsworth's 1814 masterpiece, The Excursion: A Modern American Retelling transposes the ghosts of the nineteenth century into the anxieties of the twenty-first. It abandons the rocky fells of England for the gravel roads of Michigan, trading shepherds for surveyors and peddlers for gig workers.

You do not need to know Wordsworth to understand this story. You only need to know what it feels like to worry that the world is slipping away.

Rich with the scent of wet earth, cheap rye, and strong co!ee, this novella-in-verse is a "Rust Belt Pastoral" that refuses to look away from the decay, yet insists that the root is deeper than the rust. It is a book for anyone who is tired of drifting and looking for an anchor.

Discover the "Iron Pin" that holds the world together.