Look at the Sun

"e;Look at the Sun"e; may well be the world's first coming-of-middle-age novel. It is a subtle, yet insightful, examination of the boundaries of free thought. On the surface it chronicles the hero's contemporaneous parallel journeys- his poignant passage through a difficult chapter of life and his breathtaking trek through Central America, a dreamy but dangerous world of beauty and color. On a deeper level it is a thought-provoking exploration of what it truly means to think for oneself, if, in fact, that is ever really possible. "e;Look at the Sun"e; pursues its probing inquiry through the introspective journey of Doug Roth, a middle-class family man and frustrated IT Director. Profoundly bored and peering across the yawning chasm of a recalcitrant midlife crisis, Doug suddenly concludes that the best way to overcome his growing depression is to undertake a bumpy bus trip alone, along the scoliotic spine of Central America. A chance encounter with an erstwhile hippie and 'closet intellectual' leads him down a sinuous road of friendship, betrayal and paranoia and finally to the precipice of his mortality. In spite of the weighty subject matter, "e;Look at the Sun"e; endeavors to maintain an upbeat, positive spin. Though the story is fictional, many of the events in "e;Look at the Sun"e; are based on the real experiences of the author during his many years of travel around the world.