Peter DeMarco

BACKGROUND NOISE is a collection of interwoven stories that capture the alienation of suburban life, and take the reader inside the head of a troubled loner. The writing is sparse, the imagery stark, and the effect powerful.

The tale of Henry Walker is told—loner and eternal victim—whose pain and isolation spur him to embark on a one-man mission to clean up his town, protect his property and identity, and chase fantasies of a better life.

Henry drifts from adolescent confusion to isolated adulthood, encountering one disappointment after another. Henry loses close family members and friends, desperately seeks companionship through unconventional friendships, holds a variety of dead-end jobs, and is a victim of extreme bullying.

As Henry seeks in vain to find a place for himself in the world, he becomes an outcast in the town that once gave him comfort. Immersing himself in his past, memories become guilt, guilt becomes obsession, until violence is the only logical response.

The narrative of BACKGROUND NOISE is deceptively simple. The characters are both seductive and repellent. The unspoken is felt, and the imagined resonates with reality. In razor-sharp prose reminiscent of Haruki Murakami, Peter DeMarco startles the mind while touching the heart.

The text of BACKGROUND NOISE also includes eight original, fine-line drawings that draw its audience further into the emotionally-intense world of its protagonist. The book has received numerous rave reviews, and one of the stories was nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize.