Mike Hogan needs to get away... After three long years of trying to make it big in Los Angeles-managing only a few meager production assistant jobs for no-name directors and hardly any pay-Mike has become disillusioned with it all. Out of sheer necessity he has become trapped in the eight-to-five working world and feels destined for a long, unfulfilled life. Even worse, he has lost the love of his life, Colette. In a moment of sudden surrender he decides to embark on a crazy adventure with his two like-minded roommates, Luke and Declan. The trio say goodbye to their old careers and set out on a zigzag adventure across our great continent, leaving the sunny shores of southern California for Mike's native New England, Luke's home state of Kansas, and Decky's Ohio. Their goal? To purchase one-way plane tickets out of Boston to London, where they will find a way to work in the burgeoning music video production business. The year is 1984, and MTV and new music are taking over America's youth movement. The cross-country adventure is filled with old friends, family, and acquaintances. As the three friends bounce from place to place, freeloading across the expanses of our beautiful land, they see America again through those they once knew and loved and through new friends and experiences. And in the process, Mike and the others discover things within themselves that were always there. Searching for Paradise is a sophisticated debut novel, a coming-of-age story of great depth and beauty.