Outside Providence [Paperback]

Peter Farrelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1998

Outside Providence is a hilarious yet melancholy novel of a young man's coming of age in the 1970s. When Timothy Dunphy, native of working-class Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is packed off to a fancy prep school, he finds that the privileged elite is hardly immune to life's screwups. Dunphy must reconcile his pedigreed schoolmates with his mongrel friends back home--including Drugs Delaney, whose diet consists mainly of vitamin Qs (Quaaludes), and Bunny Cote, who thinks New England is a state.

Not far below Dunphy's comic demeanor churn powerful fears of abandonment by those he loves best: his mother, his girlfriend, and his closest friend. And he must come to terms with his complex relationship with the person he hates most, his father. As he struggles to live with the paradox of somehow loving the same man he blames for his family's tragedies, Dunphy begins to understand and accept life's betrayals, and learns how to trust in love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After growing up in Pawtucket, a blue-collar Rhode Island town, Timothy Dunphy is shipped off to an Episcopal prep school called Cornwall Academy in Connecticut. It is 1974, Dunphy is 16, and the game is to cut up as much as possible without getting caught. But amid drugged-out days and alcohol-soaked nights, the appealing Dunphy struggles with his two vividly depicted milieus: in gritty Pawtucket, his father continues to be abusive, and a close friend, Mousy Town, dies in a mysterious car accident, while back at school, vindictive administrators pile on punishments, former girlfriend S. D. Stuart commits suicide, and Dunphy tries to stay afloat among his spoiled, backstabbing fellow students. The one bright spot is Jane Weston, his girlfriend, but even their romance shatters, weeks before graduation. Things pick up for a bittersweet ending as Dunphyhaving learned the hard way not to trust his classmate, the charming Jack Raffertyadmits his love for his father and agrees to be friends with Jane. From the slang-filled, first-person narrative to the boarding-school atmosphere, even to details like a love interest named Jane, this debut is reminiscent of The Catcher in the Rye, and, like Catcher, seems most appropriate for adolescents and college students. While Farrelly has written a humorous, sensitive and quite promising coming-of-age story, adults are likely to become impatient with the incessant profanity, drugs and alcohol, and the somewhat simplistic and obvious aspects.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Outside Providence is a hilarious yet melancholy novel of a young man's coming of age in the 1970s. When Timothy Dunphy, native of working-class Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is packed off to a fancy prep school, he finds that the privileged elite is hardly immune to life's screwups. Dunphy must reconcile his pedigreed schoolmates with his mongrel friends back home--including Drugs Delaney, whose diet consists mainly of vitamin Qs (Quaaludes), and Bunny Cote, who thinks New England is a state.

Not far below Dunphy's comic demeanor churn powerful fears of abandonment by those he loves best: his mother, his girlfriend, and his closest friend. And he must come to terms with his complex relationship with the person he hates most, his father. As he struggles to live with the paradox of somehow loving the same man he blames for his family's tragedies, Dunphy begins to understand and accept life's betrayals, and learns how to trust in love.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books; Main Street Books ed edition (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385490585
• ISBN-13: 978-0385490580
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars disappointed that i saw the movie before reading the book, January 26, 2003

By 

joe (us) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outside Providence (Atlantic Monthly Press Fiction Series) (Paperback)

i saw the movie like a year ago and it became one of my favorite ever since. i didn't figure out that it was a book until a couple months ago (yeah, im stupid) and i wasn't at all disappointed with the book. i did enjoy it, but there were parts in the movie that i thought were hilarious and became attached to (i guess you could say that) but then they werent in the book. they werent necessary parts, so i guess it didnt matter. another thing is that i saw the movie and only viewed it as good entertainment whereas the book i think has some meaning but i didnt catch it cuz i was just trying to be entertained and had it set in my mind that it was just supposed to be funny. still...i recommend reading the book and seeing the movie (in that order) they were both well worth my time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is amazing, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Outside Providence (Paperback)

Despite the small size of the book, and the author, who has written such funny, but notably stupid movies as Dumb and Dumber, and There's something about Mary, this book effected me like no other has. i am a sophmore in high school, and my dream was always to move to arizona, much like Tim Dunphy. this book has completely changed me. my previous favorite book was IT by stephen king, and despite the 800 page difference i would have to say that i have a new favorite. for some reason i simply clicked with this book, i was the main character, and so many of his problems were so relatable, i highly recomend this to any adolescent who is looking for a good easy read, or looking for any kind of read at all. i read it in two days, and it's messages are something i will never forget. Amazing is the only word i can use to describe Outside Providence

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, easy read, great characters, August 10, 2001

By 

Hugh Campbell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outside Providence (Paperback)

This entertaining book shows a contrast of two very different worlds: the hard life of the suburban Rhode Island blue-collar world, and the blessed life in a New England prep school (although as we find out, it's not so blessed).

As a prep-school graduate myself, I had a lot to relate to in this book. It did read like a screen play, but a very good one with interesting characters and honest humor.