Cleveland native John O'Brien is best known for his novel Leaving Las Vegas, the eventual basis of an Oscar-winning film. However, Leaving Las Vegas only scrapes the surface of a creative career shrouded in the shadow of alcoholism and depression.

In Cafe Abyss, a variance of Cleveland writers take personalized looks into John’s work, including Leaving Las Vegas but moving beyond to Stripper Lessons, The Assault on Tony’s, and more.

John sadly committed suicide in 1994, so each essay included in this powerful anthology is an independent (and sometimes intimate) foray into the writings, which unfortunately were all produced within a few short years.

Edited by Rob Jackson and David Megenhardt, Cleveland authors celebrate one of Cleveland’s sons–with the goal of making a wider audience aware of not only his best-known work but also works lesser known.