Alternatives to Sex: A Novel
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Pleasure and guilt make mischievous bedfellows in Stephen McCauleyβs witty send-up of modern love, sex, and real estate.
Boston real estate agent William Collins knows that his habits are slipping out of control. Due to obsessive-compulsive daily cleaning binges and a penchant for nightly online cruising for hookups, he finds his sales figures slipping despite a booming market. Thereβs also his ongoing struggle to collect the rent from his passive-aggressive tenant and his worries about his best friend, Edward, whom heβs certainly not in love with. Just as he decides to do something about his life, he meets Charlotte and Samuel, wealthy suburbanites looking for the perfect city apartment. βHappy couple,β he writes in his notes. βMaybe I can learn something from them.β What he ultimately discovers challenges his own assumptions about real estate, love, and desireβand 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 a smart, hilarious chronicle of life in posttraumatic, morally ambiguous Americaβwhere the desire to do good is constantly being tripped up by the need to feel good. Right now.
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Stephen McCauley is the author of several novels, including national bestsellers My Ex-Life, The Object of My Affection, and Alternatives to Sex. Three of his books have been made into feature films. His fiction, reviews, and articles have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, Harperβs, Vogue, and many other publications. He currently serves as codirector of the creative writing program at Brandeis University.
Stephen Bel Davies has recorded over a hundred titles in association with Audible Studios, Deyan Audio, Brilliance, and Tantor. He has narrated books by several New York Times bestselling authors, including Jeffrey Toobin, Jennifer Roberson, Piers Anthony, Walter Kern, J. A. Redmerski, and A. G. Riddle. He was trained at The Juilliard School Drama Division.
