Darius in the Meantime

By Devin O'Shea and Devin Liddell

Looking at my eyes behind the black mask, I tell myself that I'm not too far away from being a criminal. Life is in the props and I have a mask and a gun. The right props can turn you from someone the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 059540006X
• ISBN13: 9780595400065
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

It's about time!

The challenges of transitioning to the "real" world have been documented by authors for decades. Devin O'Shea is the first person to document this transition accurately. There are books written based on how we act or what we "think", Darius in the Meantime is from the perspective of what we truely think but wouldn't necessarily admit. You get the opportunity to peek into Darius' mind as he prepares to exit the comforts of college for the unknown of the world of employment. As you experience each situation with Darius, you are brought back to a collegiate mindset where each thought demonstrates a creativity brought out by believing in endless possibility. This book entertains you to the point of making it feel effortless to read.

Excellent Read

I picked up this book not really knowing what to expect but found myself completely enthralled in Darius' thoughts and emotions. He is such a likeable character because he is so real and true. O'Shea has put on paper what so many of us probably felt during the transition from the college womb to the cold, sterile "real world" we were so often threatened with by adults. Additionally, O'Shea tackles a complex topic through Darius' past...growing up without a father and dealing with his self-inflicted death. At the end, I was sad to say goodbye to Darius but hopefully O'Shea will indulge his readers with more tales about our new friend.

Darius graduates and gets a job ... but what happens in between?

As Darius navigates the space between the known and predictable world of formal education and the feared regimentation of the corporate world, we follow his journey through the confusion, disorientation, loneliness, and false starts of this adult transition. Rather than either dark or hilarious, I found this story to be amusing, touching and at times disturbing (like the music from late night crime shows jars one back to wakefulness). Darius's adventure reads like a memoir with heavy healthy doses of lust and inventive detours into imagination and fantasy. He deals with his raw post-adolescent insecurities with fantasies of robbing a bank hoping that the power of a gun (and perhaps the easy money) will establish or restore a potent manhood. Although conscious of paradox and contradiction, he is still trying to get comfortable with the ambiguities and limited imperfect control of adult life. Peppered with touching stories and reflections as well as delightful images (gravity as a child's plaything), I look forward to Darius's next installment on life as he masters the dilemmas of lasting intimate relationships and generating a creative work life while contemplating the appropriate level of acceptance and forgiveness for the less savory characters that he encounters. I was reminded of my own ambivalence about graduating when the time came.