Out Clause

What if you could leave your life?

An unhappily married CEO jumps from a Connecticut bridge, body never found. A troubled flight attendant still mourning her lover lost on 9-11 goes missing from a cruise ship. An Arizona school teacher can’t reconcile the sexual compromise he’s been maneuvered into and steals money from a student kiosk and disappears. An internet sensation crosses the last line left and self-pleasures in front of an audience of millions and is spotted in Virginia boarding a hot air balloon that’s empty when it crash lands. 500,000 Americans go missing every year, 1500 never return. Where are they and is there a connection? Yes.

Welcome to Out Clause.

PRAISE

“It’s the most lyrical, erudite, buoyant, brilliant prose I’ve run into since forever.”

— JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN

New York Times bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author (with Jodi Picoult) of Mad Honey

“A remarkable compilation of parenting, humor, entertainment and deep emotion.”

— SHIRLEY MACLAINE

“A good father despite himself; a forgiving child despite it all. Their adventures will make you worry, weep, and laugh out loud.”

— CARLY SIMON

“Ernest Thompson’s novel depicts the ultimate road trip in a rapturous torrent of language that captures the torrent of thoughts we carry with us as we plunge forward through life. All those suspect attributes emblazoned on so many book jackets are actually deserved here: The Book of Maps is authentically fearlessly original, laugh-out-loud funny, and profound.”

— CAROLINE ALEXANDER

Author of New York Times bestsellers The Endurance and The Bounty

“Ernest Thompson has put his cinematic viewfinder to potent use and written a very funny and deeply moving novel. Take a trip across the country without leaving your home, meet a glorious group of wondrous characters filled with hopes and dreams, and dig deep into the pains and understandings of family dynamics.”

— ROBERT GREENWALD (Filmmaker)

“The Book of Maps does take us across country, but our real traveling is through the dissolution of family and the invincibility of parental bonds. Guided by a hapless writer and a precocious child, fueled by Ernest Thompson’s artful prose, our journey is filled with imagination and hilarity, recklessness and courage, inspiration and love. And it’s a hell of a ride.”

— JESSICA HOFFMANN DAVIS

EdD, ret. Senior Lecturer and Arts in Education Chair, Harvard Graduate School of Education, author of Ordinary Gifted Children: The Power and Promise of Individual Attention