Kitchenland
A NOVEL
By: E James Hoffmaster

Madsen Murphy is a chef and an unadventurous coward; he has been stuck in slow motion, trying to salvage his confidence and regain control over the tail spin that is his life. He has been bumping along, trying anything to sidestep his sad existence, but there is little comfort for troubled hearts in Kitchenland; the daily struggle between right and wrong wages constant war on the peace of mind he struggles desperately to maintain. Finding himself caught between heroism and obscurity, Murphy struggles with the daily affirmations of his own indecision and indifference. Finding little to no help inside his own circle, he extends his search for validation to the dark, brooding creatures of the culinary underworld and other beautiful beings that occupy space in his otherwise dismal reality.

While he dabbles in death, love, and the melancholy of loneliness - desperately trying to be spectacular - Murphy guides us through drug and alcohol abuse, sexual misadventure, personal exploitation, and deviant violence. Watching greatness pass him by, hopping from setback to failure in hopes of redefining his ordinarily plain existence, he finally finds true love in pastry chef Alex. But her macabre pursuits could ruin him altogether and disrupt his already fragile self-assurance. But she might just be his last chance at salvation; bringing him face to face with his own demons as he fights to vindicate his crumbling mortality.