The Story

The Show Outside follows 25-year-old Will Aikman, a former basketball prodigy whose life was shattered by a car crash—his fault—that killed his parents, left his sister, Zooey, with brain damage, and cost him his right arm and his hoop dreams. Haunted by guilt, pain, and PTSD, Will drifts through his days caring for intellectually disabled foster residents—including Zooey, whose world revolves around the backyard haven she adoringly calls "the show outside."

When he hires Daphne DeLuca, a free-spirited college student, as an assistant, her presence upends the fragile balance of his life. With laughter, candor, and a fearless heart, she helps Will see Zooey—and himself—with new eyes. As he teeters between hope and self-destruction, Daphne's influence draws him toward a reckoning—with grief, forgiveness, and the possibility of redemption.

A Novel More Than a Decade in the Making

I worked on The Show Outside for more than a decade. During that time the story changed many times, but its emotional core never did.

Many of the experiences and relationships that shaped my own life informed the novel, particularly my years working alongside people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Though the story is fictional, it grew from a world I know and care deeply about.

I'm grateful to finally be able to share this story with readers.

Praise for The Show Outside

You’d think the topics of death, brain damage, amputation, phantom limb pain, PTSD, and addiction should, by all rights, add up to a grim and dark story. But in Rick Borsten’s compelling new novel his characters—particularly those with intellectual disabilities—are so authentic and engaging, their dialogue so wickedly funny, that light keeps bursting through cracks in the darkness. The possibilities—however slim—of wonder, love, and restoration never quite feel out of reach, so you’re soon cheering for the potential contained in every human heart.

Gregg Kleiner
author of Where River Turns to Sky, Oregon Book Award Finalist

The Show Outside is a lovely novel, hilarious and moving, sexy and scary. The language is at times incandescent, and the characters—particularly those with developmental disabilities—lovable yet authentic, their idiosyncrasies and speech pure charm and delight.

John Addiego
author of Islands of Divine Music and Tears of the Mountain

I fell instantly in love with the people that inhabit Rick Borsten’s latest book, The Show Outside. Will Aikman is haunted by the accident that killed his parents and now struggles to care for his sister Zooey—disabled in the same car wreck—as well as for two developmentally disabled (and very funny) adults, Roland and Thora. When Will tries to add a third client and a part-time helper, the intriguing Daphne, their lives are further upended. If there’s a medicine that can heal Will and hold their extended family together, it might just be ‘the show outside.’ A moving and elegantly crafted novel.

Charles Goodrich
author of Weave Me a Crooked Basket: a novel and Knot House: New and Selected Poems