Russel Middlebrook: The Futon Years Books

"I guess this was what they meant by a loss of innocence. Who knew?" Russel Middlebrook is twenty-three years old, gay, and living in trendy Seattle, but life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life—either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. All he knows is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore. What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't? Enter Kevin, Russel's perfect high school boyfriend. Could rekindling an old flame be the thing Russel needs to get his life back on track? Or maybe the answer lies in a new friend, an eccentric screenwriter named Vernie Rose, who seems plenty wise. Or what the hell? Maybe Russel will find some answers by joining his best friend Gunnar's crazy search for the legendary Bigfoot! One way or another, Russel is determined to learn the all-important secret to life, even if it's a thing he doesn't even know he doesn't know. Author Brent Hartinger first made a splash writing books for teens. The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know , Hartinger's first book for older readers, is just as much of a page-turner as his earlier works, with plenty of his trademark irreverent humor. But now his books have grown up along with his readers, exploring the issues of new adults, especially the complicated matter of love and sex. Praise for Brent Hartinger "Hits the narrative sweet spot."- NPR's All Things Considered "Downright refreshing."- USA Today BRENT HARTINGER is an author, teacher, playwright, and screenwriter. Geography Club , the book in which Russel Middlebrook first appears (as a teenager), is also a successful stage play and a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula. In 1990, Brent helped found one of the world's first gay teen support groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006. He now lives in Seattle with his husband, Michael Jensen.

“There was no way moving to Los Angeles was going to make me give up my soul. After all, I’d already seen all the movies about Hollywood. I knew how things worked.” Twenty-four year-old Russel Middebrook and his boyfriend have moved to Los Angeles so Russel can try to make it as a screenwriter. Almost right away, in a forgotten old house off of Sunset Boulevard, Russel meets Isaac Brander, a once-famous film producer who is convinced he can turn Russel’s screenplay into a movie. Russel knows that success can’t possibly come this easy. After all, most of Russel’s Los Angeles friends are so desperate to make it that it’s downright scary. His ex-boyfriend, Otto, is trying everything to become an actor, and Daniel, the sexy neighbor, doesn’t even need a casting couch to get naked. So what’s the catch with Mr. Brander? Could it be that movies about Hollywood don’t tell the whole truth? But what does that mean for Russel’s soul? Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams , a companion book to Brent Hartinger’s The Thing I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know , is a fast-paced, funny story about the price of fame in Hollywood: the hilarious lengths people will go to achieve it, and the touching secret to survival when things don’t work out exactly as planned. Advance Praise for Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams : “A sharp, canny, highly engaging tour through a Hollywood of cunning characters and colorful intrigues, guided by the clever voice of Russel Middlebrook as an eager young screenwriter trying to bust in. I was charmed by every sly, sexy page.” – Barry Sandler, screenwriter of Making Love and Crimes of Passion “With his trademark wit, warmth, and economy, Brent Hartinger brilliantly captures what it’s like to move to L.A. and try and make it in Hollywood: the highs and the lows, the friends and the phonies, the fun and the frustration. And by the way, is it too late for me to be Russel Middlebrook when I grow up?” – Dennis Hensley, co-screenwriter of Testosterone , author of Misadventures in the (213) BRENT HARTINGER is an author, teacher, playwright, and screenwriter. Geography Club , the book in which Russel Middlebrook first appears (as a teenager), is also a successful stage play and a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula. In 1990, Brent helped found one of the world's first gay teen support groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006. He now lives in Seattle with his husband, Michael Jensen.

“I think gay guys like weddings more than anyone. And it's not because we want to destroy marriage, like some people say. It's because we really, really want to get married!" Russel Middlebrook is gettin' hitched! The wedding is taking place in a remote lodge on an island in Puget Sound. Russel and his husband-to-be have invited all their close friends to spend the whole weekend together beforehand. And for the first time in his life, Russel is determined to not be neurotic, and not over-think things. But that's before things start going wrong. Who expected a dead killer whale to wash up on the beach below the inn? And what's this about a windstorm approaching? Then there's the problem of Russel's anxious fiancé, who is increasingly convinced the whole thing is going to be a disaster. Meanwhile, the wedding is taking place near the ruins of a small town, Amazing, where, a hundred years earlier, the people supposedly all disappeared overnight. Why does it feel like the secret at the end of the road to Amazing has something to do with Russel's own future? Can Russel's friends Min, Gunnar, Vernie, and Otto somehow help him make it all make sense? The Road to Amazing , the last book in the Russel Middlebrook Futon Years trilogy, is a story about endings and beginnings, and also about growing up and growing older. But mostly it's a story about love and friendship—about how it's not the destination that makes a life amazing, but the people you meet along the way. Praise for Brent Hartinger: “Hits the narrative sweet spot."— NPR's All Things Considered "Downright refreshing."— USA Today "The most artful and authentic depiction of a gay teen since [19780]."— Horn Book Magazine "Touching and realistic...hilarious."— Kirkus Reviews