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Pride Month III

 I can't let Pride Month finish without putting a spotlight on Stephen McCauley.

McCauley writes comedies; his protagonists tend to be gay men with problems. One loses his lover and finds his waist thickening in middle age; he is also on the verge of losing a little carriage house in San Francisco. Another McCauley protagonist works with wealthy pre-K students at a school like Collegiate; the entitled parents pose problems. One claims to have talked with his estranged wife; "we switched our days around, and you can release little Oliver to me." This is a kidnapping plot--but how do you say no to a power broker who owns a townhouse in the East Seventies? (I, for one, enjoy this kind of story.)

McCauley invents a private "college applications counselor." This guy recalls a favorite statement from a teen: "My primary educational goal is to move far away from my parents." Also, the counselor has learned that the way to sell anything in America is to attach a number to your title. "The Seven Steps for Writing an Ideal Application." "The Three Keys for Choosing a College You Will Love."

Very little happens in a McCauley novel, but it's fun to follow the clear-eyed, embattled gay men as they wander around the Eastern Seaboard. You also get tart observations. Wine connoisseurs are "incipient alcoholics with money." Thirtysomethings are, awkwardly, "young enough to believe they matter and that life will go their way."

I like McCauley quite a bit, and my top recommendation is his newest novel, "My Ex-Life."
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