The Way Out (The Books album)

The Way Out is the fourth and final studio album by American musical duo the Books. It was released on July 20, 2010 by Temporary Residence Limited, and was the duo's first album to be issued by the label.

The Way Out received mostly positive reviews from critics. The album's cover is a take on that of early 1970s editions of The Way, an illustrated version of The Living Bible.

Composition
The Way Out has been called a sound collage. Resident Advisor said that similarly to the duo's earlier album Lost and Safe (2005), The Way Out "consists of bright collages, some of which have pop or folk-style vocals." Paste Magazine called it the duo's "most dazzling work to date" in which they "[strike] an ideal balance between found-sound collage and original vocalizations", with a greater emphasis on soundbytes.

NME included it in their list of the "Most Underrated Albums of 2010"; writer Chris Parkin called it "[a] pathologically precise album from NYC's spoddiest duo, who've leavened their clever-clever musique concrete with rib-tickling funnies in a seamless fusion of polyrhythms, sampled hypnotherapy tapes and perfectly skewiff melodies."

Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

The Books
 * Paul de Jong – mastering, mixing, production, recording
 * Nick Zammuto – mastering, mixing, production, recording

Additional personnel
 * Drew Brown – additional production and engineering
 * Brendon Downey – mastering, mixing