McCauley, Stephen. The Easy Way Out. Simon &
Schuster. Jun. 1992. c.298p. ISBN 0-671-70818-X. $20.00
[FICTION]
The author of The Object of My Affection (LJ
3/1/87) returns with an amusing, eccentric collection of
dysfunctional middle-class Bostonians. Patrick O'Neil's
relationship with lover Arthur "had developed into the kind
of benign domestic dependency that takes love for granted and
accepts as inevitable a certain level of boredom, discontent and
supressed rage." As the rather predictable plot develops,
Patrick's yuppie brother Tony avoids marriage to his childhood
sweetheart by having a last fling, and older brother Ryan,
recently divorced, feels lonely. Mother and Father O'Neil snipe
constantly at their discontented offspring; interactions among
the clan make for lots of bitchy lines and great characterizations. Good
for expanding gay fiction collections,
but not a necessary purchase.
Kevin M. Roddy, University of Hawai'i at Hilo