Into the Desperate Country by Jeff Vande Zande

Jaff Vande Zande is a long time supporter and contributor to the Blue Collar Review. He has used it in his classes at Delta College.


March Street Press announces the publication of Jeff Vande Zande’s debut novel . . . Into the Desperate Country.



“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats.”

--Henry David Thoreau, Walden





Into the Desperate Country . . .


Having abandoned his life after the deaths of his wife and daughter, Stan Carter begins accidentally to live “deliberately” in his cabin near Gaylord, MI. Soon, though, he feels the very insistent pull of society calling him back to the path: Find love. Find a job. Have kids. Own a house. And then die -- having, perhaps, never lived. It's the siren call of conformity and status quo. It's the call Stan must fight. And, in some way, it's the fight we all have as we make our way.

Signed copies of the novel can be ordered by sending a check payable to Jeff Vande Zande for $18.00 (includes shipping) to:

Jeff Vande Zande
P.O. Box 2042
Bay City, MI 48707