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Way Out Here in the Middle

John Roach

Out-of-Print

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"Enrich yourself. Read this book." —Jacquelyn Mitchard

About the Book
Way Out Here in the Middle includes 51 columns Roach wrote for Madison Magazine from 1993 to 2003 featuring poignant to hilarious observations of life in the slow lane. Roach begins by extolling the virtues of turning the big 4-0:"I'm not afraid of sex. I don't have to live with nine other guys. My car starts." And is even more grateful to reach 50:, "Hell, the only reason I'm living is because of penicillin." From ice fishing in Minocqua to Bill Clinton's inaugural in Washington; from the Cannes Film Festival to his daughter's soccer games, Roach explores the world from the country's "most livable city" with humor and compassion.

About the Author
Roach is a television producer who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Sweeney for The Straight Story, the acclaimed film by David Lynch, for which Richard Farnsworth earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Roach received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. Roach created and produced the cult cable hit, The Sports Writers on TV, which made four crusty Chicago sports reporters into national celebrities, as well as targets of the famed Saturday Night Live spoof "Da Bears." He also worked on the show A.M. Chicago, before it was called the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Praise for Way Out Here in the Middle
" John has made me laugh since we were six years old. It was with his Madison Magazine letters that he began to make me cry; funny, poignant, philosophical, full of bluster and love...a shot of Irish, neat."—Mary Sweeney, screenwriter, The Straight Story

"As a man and as a columnist, John has vitality, humor, an awareness of life's inevitable sadness, a sense of history and a way with a phrase that makes you wonder why he spent years in television before becoming a writer. His embrace is large. He is unpredictable. He writes about family, celebrities, middle age, music, TV, ice fishing and anything else that draws his interest-and just about everything does."—Doug Moe, daily columnist, The Capital Times, and author of The World of Mike Royko

"I've known John Roach since he had one chin. That's a bad joke, but one the very talented, very perceptive, very appreciative-of-bad-jokes Roach would chuckle at. And I hope readers of John's collected columns appreciate his wit and insight and sense of the absurd. His jumpshot may be gone, his knee blown, his waist expanded, but his writing about Madison and the world is dead on."—Rick Telander, sports columnist, Chicago Sun-Times

"John's unique take on life is born out of his Midwestern roots, after you've spent dozens of winters in Wisconsin, eaten your fair share of dairy products, and ice-fished, even though there is perfectly good seafood at a nearby store, you're going to come up with some great thoughts concerning the world at large. Ralph Lauren only knows cheese as something to serve at a dinner party, John Roach lives among people who embrace cheese as fashion."—Garry Meier, WLS

"He writes about the things of Madison most of us take for granted and, by doing so, he gives weight to these blessings." —Wisconsin State Journal, December 5, 2003

"This is the guy you wish would stop by your cubicle more often-funny, engaged, smart and real. And now, he's got a book out…" —Madison Magazine, December 2003

Since I began writing for this magazine a certain conversation has become a constant in my life. People, including my own parents, ask what I do. I say I'm a writer. They get that "oh, geez" look but politely ask where I get published. I say Madison Magazine, they perk right up. "Really?" they ask. "What's it like to work with John Roach?"

I wish I knew.

Like almost all the writers here, John and I write for the magazine, but not at the magazine. I've never even seen the guy. Instead, I do what everyone else does with each new issue: I flip to the back page first and enjoy the hell out of how John Roach writes. We never know before we hit the first word of a new column whether we'll be laughing or crying, outraged or gratified at the end. All we know is that it will be good, and we'll wish it hadn't ended so soon.

So I understand the "what's it like to work with John Roach" question. This is the guy you wish would stop by your cubicle more often-funny, engaged, smart and real. And now he's got a book out, "Way Out Here in the Middle" (Jones Books, $16.95), a collection of Madison Magazine columns that do what the best writing has always done, which is show us our true selves.

John: There's no chance that we won't flip to the back page first. Only this time it will be worth it to begin at the beginning.

Mary Feingold, Madison Magazine, December 2003

"It was obvious to Madison Magazine's editor at the time-well, it was me-that the force of Roach's personality and the range of his interests might be interesting to readers once a month. For once I wasn't wrong". —The Capital Times, August 22, 2003

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Way Out Here in the Middle
John Roach
ISBN 0-9721217-5-7
5.5 x 8.5,176 pages
$16.95 Paperback—Memoir
Foreword by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Out-of-Print