Occupation Writer, novelist Role Writer Name Doug Cooper | Notable works Outside In Genre Literary Fiction | |
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Born June 5, 1970 (age 53)
Sandusky, Ohio ( 1970-06-05 ) | ||
Literary movement Transgressive fiction | ||
Doug Cooper (born June 5, 1970, Douglas Allan Cooper) is an American writer of literary fiction. His debut novel, Outside In, won the 2014 International Book Award for Literary Fiction, 2014 USA Best Book Award for Literary Fiction, and a 2015 Bronze IPPY from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
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Personal life
Cooper grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio, graduating from Port Clinton High School where he graduated second in his class in 1988 and was the quarterback and captain of the football team and captain of the basketball team, earning all-conference honors in the Sandusky Bay Conference. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education from Miami University and a Master of Arts in American Studies from Saint Louis University. Always searching, he has traveled to more than twenty countries on five continents, exploring the contradictions between what we believe and how we act in the pursuit of truth, beauty, and love. He has also called Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, New York City, and Oslo, Norway home. He now lives in Las Vegas working on a new novel, The Investment Club.
Work
Because Cooper's work is so realistic, he is often asked if it is autobiographical. In response to this, he has said, "I am definitely asked that a lot, but I did it intentionally. It's another way I am having fun with the writing. Most first novels are autobiographical or are written as memoirs. Although some of the events are similar to those in my life, everything that happens in "Outside In" is there for a reason and has many layers of meaning. I decided to put in some details from my own life and let people run with it. If they want to read it as my life story, that's up to them. I'm not saying a lot of things in the book never happened, but I'll never say which did and did not. (Laughs.) But that's what the whole book is about—the duality of all things. Much of what appears on the surface of "Outside In" is a mask concealing a much deeper and sometimes opposite meaning. "Outside In" is more about the beliefs and experiences the reader brings. One reader may perceive a quote as a kernel of wisdom and another view it as hackneyed. This is all done purposely and very much figures in to how the ending is interpreted."
Following are the endorsements his debut novel Outside In received:
“Blake said the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom – but he never spent time in Put-in-Bay, where the pleasure-hungry hero of Doug Cooper's Midwest saga Outside in goes to forget himself and re-find his wild side. For this debut novel, Cooper has fashioned a modern parable of Shangri Law morphing into The Inferno. The author owns a poet's eye and an ear for the funny/tragic dialogue of the American lost and searching worthy of comparison to Mamet, Sherwood Anderson, and Joy Williams. A deep, entertaining read about all the truths that find us when we're looking the other way.” --Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight, Bad Sex on Speed, and Happy Mutant Baby Pills
“This modern take on finding oneself shows readers what can happen when you completely lose control and become someone you are not. It reminds us all of Shakespeare's council, 'To thine own self be true.'” --Weldon Long, author of the New York Times bestseller The Power of Consistency
“Doug Cooper writes authoritatively about the ease with which circumstances conspire to ensnare a promising young teacher into a lush life of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. It remains to be seen how easy it will be for him to get himself out–or if he will just become another bleached-out lotus-eater in the Florida sun. A charismatic cast of characters populates this promising novel from a rising talent. --Stuart Smith, CEO, Central Recovery
“Outside in takes readers on a wild ride with the final destination being a rediscovered sense of self." --Colleen Hoover, author of the New York Times bestseller Slammed
“Rarely does an author capture the frenzied descent into drug and alcohol abuse as Doug Cooper in his tumultuous novel Outside In. A story of disillusion drowned in excess, tempered by the decisions we make to survive another day. A searing debut."—Stephen Jay Schwartz, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of Boulevard and Beat
In his blog, Cooper explains he uses four types of research in crafting a novel: empirical, repurposed, academic, and inventive:
Cooper has appeared at the West Hollywood Book Fair, appearing on a drug fiction panel with Jerry Stahl and Mark Haskell Smith, the Vegas Valley Book Festival, and the Books by the Banks in Cincinnati, Ohio. He often does book signings and readings at stores and cafes and is a frequent guest on podcasts and radio shows.