A dark comedy about a young man’s aspirations to be something better than he currently is.

Frustrated 35-year-old plumber Isaac Sullivan believes he has both the intellect and skill to be a surgeon. Forced to take over his father’s plumbing business straight out of high school, Isaac’s had dreams of attending the University of Michigan that fell by the wayside. However, the unfortunate setback didn’t stop him entirely. For the past decade, he has absorbed every medical textbook and journal available to him. For practical experience, Isaac performs surgeries on the wildlife around his house, preparing for the day he attends Michigan.

Yet the years continue to pass and Isaac remains stuck in Paradise, Michigan, as a plumber. That is, until this year, when an event pushes him to apply as an undergraduate for the first time. Exit Papers from Paradise is about the gap between the person we are and the person we desperately want to be.

Liam Card studied writing at the University of Iowa and the University of North Carolina, respectively, graduating with a B.A. in communication studies while on a full track-and-field scholarship at both universities. He is a screenwriter and author of the novel Exit Papers from Paradise. Liam lives in Toronto.

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• Commended, Dewey Divas and the Dudes

A riveting exploration of a life that didn't turn out as it should have, Exit Papers from Paradise is a superb first novel. Liam Card writes with intensity, verve, and precision, and the character he has created in Isaac is one that won't soon leave me.

Author of The Cellist of Sarajevo

Wise, riveting, it's a super debut novel.

Owen Sound Sun Times

It’s funny but the rawness of the material occasionally makes you cringe.

Quill & Quire

This riveting debut novel from Liam Card explores what happens when life doesn't meet our expectations; it's about the gap between the person we are and the person we desperately want to be.

OpenbookToronto.com