Affiliates
| Works by
Stephen McCauley
(Writer)
[1955 - ] |
Alternatives to Sex (2006)
--
Finalist,2006 Lambda Literary Award for Male Fiction
William Collins is a real estate agent working near Boston. Despite a boom
market, his sales figures aren't what they should be, due mostly to the
distractions of compulsive ironing and housecleaning binges and his penchant
for nightly online cruising for hookups—"less impersonal than old-fashioned
anonymous sex because you exchanged fake names with the person."
There's also his struggle to collect the rent from Kumiko
Rothberg, his passive-aggressive tenant, and his worries about his best
friend, Edward, a flight attendant he's certainly not in love with.
William has known for some time that his habits are slipping
out of control. But he figures that "as long as I acknowledged my behavior
was a problem, it wasn't one."
When he finally decides to do something about his life, he
needs a role model of calm stability. Enter Charlotte O'Malley and Samuel
Thompson, wealthy suburbanites looking for the perfect city apartment.
"Happy couple," William writes in his notes. "Maybe I can learn something
from them." But what he learns challenges his own assumptions about real
estate, love, and desire. And what they learn from him might unravel a
budding friendship, not to mention a very promising sale.
Full of crackling dialogue delivered by a stellar ensemble
of players, Alternatives to Sex is social satire at its very best: A smart,
sophisticated, and astonishingly funny look at the way we live now.
True Enough (2001)
Jane Cody imagined she'd lead a tumultuous
life, full of money, passion, and painless tragedies. Instead, she wakes up
at forty with a doting second husband, a precocious son who loves to bake,
and a fast-paced job as a producer for a Boston television station. What
went wrong? In New York, Desmond Sullivan—biographer of demi-celebs such as
the forgotten torch singer Pauline Anderton—wonders how he ended up "stuck
in something as pathetic" as a happy, secretly monogamous relationship with
smart, sweet Russell.
Jane and Desmond meet in Boston and join forces to create a series of TV
documentaries on America's cultural mediocrities. But their search for the
truth about the elusive Anderton takes them on a journey of self-discovery
in which they learn more about their own secrets and lies than they ever
wanted to know.
The Man of the House
(1996)
When Clyde Carmichael isn't teaching at a posh
but flaky adult learning center, devouring biographies in search of a design
for living, or obsessing about his ex-lover, Gordon, he's dodging his
insecure sister and impossible father, who may or may not be at death's
door. At thirty-five, Clyde's in danger of becoming too much like Marcus,
his handsome (and unswervingly straight) roommate, who's spent the past ten
years not writing his dissertation and not falling in love with a string of
beautiful women.
Enter Louise Morris. Clyde's old friend and Marcus' onetime lover is a
restless writer and single mother who arrives in Cambridge with her son,
Ben, and a neurotic dog in tow. The looming question of Ben's paternity
nudges Clyde back into the orbit of his own father—and propels all of the
characters into bittersweet emotional terrain.
The Easy Way Out (1992)
Patrick O'Neil is a travel agent who never goes
anywhere. His closest confidante, Sharon, is chain-smoking her way to
singles hell, passing up man after man. His parents, proprietors of a
suburban men's store, can't agree how best to interfere in their sons'
lives. And his lover, Arthur (a golden retriever of a guy to whom Patrick
can't quite commit), wants to cement their relationship by buying a house.
Then a call comes in the middle of the night. Tony, Patrick's
straight-as-an-arrow younger brother, has fallen in love with a beautiful
lawyer who is turning him on to.opera. Unfortunately, she's not the woman
he's already pledged to marry. Tony's life is a mess. Finally, the brothers
have something in common.
The Object of My Affection
(1987)
George and Nina seem like the perfect couple.
They share a cozy, cluttered Brooklyn apartment, a taste for impromptu tuna
casserole dinners, and a devotion to ballroom dancing lessons at Arthur
Murray. They love each other. There's only one hitch: George is gay. And
when Nina announces she's pregnant, things get especially complicated.
Howard-Nina's overbearing boyfriend and the baby's father-wants marriage.
Nina wants independence. George will do anything for a little unqualified
affection, but is he ready to become an unwed surrogate dad?
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