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    Man About Town: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Man About Town: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Man About Town: A Novel
    Ebook487 pages

    Man About Town: A Novel

    By Mark Merlis

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A congressional adviser and habitué of a cozy circuit of bars inside the Beltway, Joel Lingeman never quite felt middle-aged. At least not until he was abandoned by his partner of fifteen years and suddenly thrust into a dating scene with men half his age and no discernible trace of love handles. But this unexpected hole in his life inspires Joel's search for a 1964 edition ofan Esquire-like magazine that contained a swimsuit ad that obsessed and haunted him throughout his youth. Determined to find out what happened to the model shown in the ad, Joel slowly begins to understand what has happened to his own life. Sexy, smart, and deftly observed, Man About Town is a new twist on the idea that the personal is political and a must read for anyone who's ever wondered what happened to that first crush.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 14, 2010
    ISBN9780062041555
    Unavailable
    Man About Town: A Novel
    Author

    Mark Merlis

    Mark Merlis grew up in Baltimore and attended Wesleyan and Brown Universities. He now lives in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for Man About Town

    4/5

    18 ratings1 review

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    • 4/5
      I thought at first that this was going to be another wry romantic comedy about a middle-aged gay man forced to re-examine his life when his lover walks out (why is it that the first thing we all do in that situation is reach for the typewriter and write a novel...?). In fact, it turns out to be a surprisingly mature, thoughtful book, set in a world in which nothing has a simple, straightforward answer. The complexities of Washington politics reflect the complexities of Joel's love-life, but the parallels are presented in a sufficiently discreet way for us not to feel we're being bashed over the head with them. When I read Merlis's earlier books, I felt that they were a bit over-written; in this one he seems to have matched the style to the subject-matter very well. Altogether, an interesting, worthwhile and - not least - very enjoyable novel.