Stuck Outside of Phoenix

by Arthur Edwards

Josh “Hote” Hotle, twenty-one-year-old bass player, wants to get the hell out of Phoenix. The time is April of 1990, one year before Seattle’s grunge music scene breaks nationwide, and those with their pop music ears to the ground recognize something big happening in the rainy Northwest. Hote is tuned in to these rumblings, and Seattle poses what might be the perfect solution to his his boring hometown, the catatonic Tempe music scene, the ashes of his recently defunct band, the sweltering Phoenix summer just around the corner. His car is packed with all of his things. He is ready to go. One easy right turn onto the interstate and Hote is a free man. But a funny thing happens on his way out of town. In the three days Hote is Stuck Outside of Phoenix, he dates a previously inaccessible love interest, fist-fights his best friend, and plays a dream gig at Tempe’s largest music venue. Unexpected pleasures and bumps-in-the-road keep Hote volleying from peak to valley, but in the end Hote gets as close as possible to the thing he loves most, the intoxicating pulse and pound of the perfect rock song.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Teto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bittersweet story, angsty but relevant, that left me...not sad at the end but wishing things could have worked out differently, which I guess is kind of the point of the book.

[David Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried to write a review of my experience with Stuck Outside of Phoenix. I've written it many times. Sometimes on paper. Sometimes on this laptop; retyping, cutting, retyping, copying, pasting; failing...until today. The story seems typical enough. This guy they call, Hote, is wandering into adulthood and he wants to be a rock star. He's handy enough with a bass. He's had some experience being in a band—with so-called friends, mostly. His intuition tells him Seattle is the place to take his talent. And just when he's ready to hit the road, he gets lost. And I got lost, for almost two months, in search of what Art's story did to me. Then today, I found that I have been reviewing it all of the time. I am still there, stuck with Hote, in a constant part of my unconsciousness. Still there, on the couch, in his friend's apartment. Still sitting on the bar stool, pondering his thoughts. Still watching him with the woman he could love. Still pressed against the stage, looking up and seeing a rare and unexpected glow coming off of Hote's face and his bass guitar. This is one of those stories I love to find. The kind that stays with you, lingers in your thoughts, gets down into your soul, and expands your empathies. Art wrote a measure of depth and struggle that brought me close enough to the character that I was there, helping him carry his struggle, and at the same time, held to a distance from Hote. This was the same close and distant thread I found all through the story and stretched between Hote and everyone he knew. It was the song that began playing in my head, when I read the first pages, and continued to play during every reading, and to the last page. The song is Entre Nous by Rush. It tells of our vast separation from each other, but those '...spaces in between leave room for you and I to grow.'

[Chris Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not one who typically will read through a book in a single sitting, but this is one of the rare few that I could not put down. I'm sure a large part of that for me was the topic. As a guitar player who has never had the experience of being in a band, but still dreams of it happening one day, I was captivated by the story. But I also liked the way the story flows easily along, while still developing interesting characters that the reader can really feel like they get to know.

[Dave Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. But maybe it's because I'm a huge Refreshments fan, and a bass player. And in highschool and college lived the turmoil of being in a band going noplace. This book helps me remember those times and how they could have gone differently.

[Jeni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Well written, very readable, fictionalized view into the early 90s Tempe music scene. I think anyone from Phoenix with an interest in music would at the very least enjoy reading all of the direct references to spots around town. But there's a lot more here to like, too.