Timothy Dunphy is a young native of working class Pawtucket, Rhode Island, whose mother committed suicide, and whose thuggish father calls him 'Dildo'. Timothy's meagre existence changes dramatically when his dad exploits shady connections to get him into a posh Connecticut prep school. But Timothy struggles with his new schoolmates, struggles with the opposite sex, and continues to struggle in his relationship to his father, whom he blames for his mother's demise. Outside Providence is a funny, melancholy novel of a young man's coming of age in the 1970s.