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Alternatives to Sex: A Novel

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Overview

Set one year after September 11, 2001, Stephen McCauley's new novel is a cunningly spun chronicle of life in post-traumatic, morally ambiguous America, where the heartfelt desire to do good is constantly tripped up by the need to feel good. The author's gift for bridging the gap between poignancy and hilarity is on brilliant display in Alternatives to Sex, a sparkling comedy of manners that grapples with some of life's most serious questions without ever taking itself too seriously. William Collins, a Boston realtor, has known for some time that his habits are slipping out of control, but "I figured that as long as I acknowledged my behavior was a problem, it wasn't one." He finally decides to do something about his compulsive cleaning binges, his lackluster sales figures, and his penchant for nightly anonymous online sex, but he needs a role model for calm stability. Enter Charlotte O'Malley and Samuel Thompson, wealthy suburbanites looking for the perfect apartment in the city.

Editorial Reviews

McCauley's latest blunt and funny novel lays bare the inner life and obsessive-compulsive behavior of William Collins, a gay 40-something Boston realtor who struggles to give up trolling the Internet for impersonal sexual liaisons. Taking stock of the year following 9/11, William attributes his promiscuity to "posttraumatic self-indulgence" and unsuccessfully attempts to trade one addiction for another: cleaning house (not always his own). When affluent straight couple Charlotte O'Malley and Samuel Thompson arrive at his office, prowling for a new home, William hopes he can close the sale and wonders if he can look to their marriage as inspiration for a long-term relationship. While McCauley entertains with a motley group of supporting characters, the novel pivots on William's close friendship with Edward, a flight attendant. Hoping to preserve their relationship by keeping it romance-free, William tries to deny his feelings for the ever-patient Edward. McCauley (True Enough) delivers the promise of emotional progress for his flawed, charming protagonist in this clever take on the desire for love, sex and real estate. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Stephen McCauley

Stephen McCauley is the author of "The Man of the House", "The Object of My Affection", & "The Easy Way Out". He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Simon & Schuster

Filesize

655.54 KB

Number of Pages

304

eBook ISBN

9780743288965

Awards

  • Lambda Literary Awards

Excerpt from: Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley

a start


My decision to practice celibacy had nothing to do with prudery or penance, morality or manners, dysfunction, or fear of disease. It had very little to do with sex. It was all about real estate.

What had started out, one year earlier, as a bout of benign computer dating -- a euphemism for online chatting followed by brief encounters, less impersonal than old-fashioned anonymous sex because you exchanged fake names with the person -- had turned into an almost daily ritual that had replaced previous pastimes such as reading, going to the movies, working, exercising, and eating. I'm exaggerating, of course, but by how much, I'd rather not say. For months, I'd known that my habits were slipping out of control, but I figured that as long as I acknowledged my behavior was a problem, it wasn't one.

And then, one rainy September morning -- coincidentally, the same morning Samuel Thompson and Charlotte O'Malley wandered into my life -- I woke up and decided that too much really was enough. I could feel trouble pressing down on me like the low dark sky outside my bedroom window. I lived in a house near the top of a steep, San Francisco-like hill, but rather than a view of the Pacific, I saw from my windows the colorful sprawl of Somerville, Massachusetts -- jagged rooftops and the tight grid of streets -- and in the near distance, the cozy, unimpressive skyline of Boston, minimized this morning by the clouds.