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Jeff Vande Zande, a mid-Michigan professor and author, has just published his sixth novel "Detroit Muscle."
Vande Zande, who teaches fiction writing and screenwriting at Delta College near Bay City, focuses on a recovering Oxycontin addict who comes home to Michigan to reclaim his life.
Protagonist Robby Cooper "struggles to make amends with those that he has hurt with his addiction while trying to stay one step ahead of those to whom he still owes money," a release says. "Things only begin to change for him once he agrees to a road trip across Michigan with his grandfather in a reconditioned ’68 Firebird."
Ken Meisel, author of "The Drunken Sweetheart at My Door," writes about the 154-page paperback:
“Vande Zande does not shy away from the pain, loneliness, and anguish that exist in every addiction. In this intimate novel about hope and renewal, past and future become inexplicable linkages within the trajectory of one’s road trip back into life’s greater purpose.
Vande Zande dares to address what is forgivable and what is not within all family conflicts, including those characterized by addiction, estrangement, and suicide. The result is a compassionate book that offers a poignant take on how human beings, through the road trip of reconciliation, recovery, muscle memory and love, make peace.”
Jeff Vande Zande, a prolific novelist, graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1993.
Vande Zande's five other fiction books include "Emergency Stopping and Other Stories," "Into the Desperate Country," "Landscape with Fragmented Figures" and "Threatened Species."
Another novel, "American Poet," won a Michigan Notable Book Award from the Library of Michigan.
The author-educator has a 1993 English degree from Northern Michigan University and added a master's in literature from Eastern Illinois University in 1996.
Detroit Muscle, released April 28, is available at Amazon and directly from Whistling Shade Press.
