Synopses & Reviews
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU DISCOVER YOUR INSIGNIFICANT OTHER IS BECOMING MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN YOUR SPOUSE?
Richard Rossi works in HR at a Boston-based software company and prides himself on his understanding of the foibles and fictions we all use to get through the day. Too bad he’s not as good at spotting such behavior in himself. What else could explain his passionate affair with Benjamin, a very unavailable married man? Richard is also not entirely available himself—there’s Conrad, his adorable if maddening partner to contend with. But when Conrad starts spending a suspicious amount of time in Ohio, and economic uncertainty challenges Richard’s chances for promotion, he realizes his priorities might be a little skewed.
Review
“A master of the comic novel, Stephen McCauley makes someone else’s difficult, complicated relationship so witty, sexy and delightfully engrossing that you’ll forget about your own difficult, complicated relationship. Unsentimental but moving,
Insignificant Others is the story of two men trying to solve the world’s oldest math problem: Does one plus one equal a couple, or just two?”
Bob Smith, author of Selfish and Perverse and Openly Bob“Insignificant Others is vintage McCauley, offering up the usual mixture of hilarity, pathos, irony, and regret. You’ll root for Richard Rossi, the self deprecating and cannily observant HR functionary at Connectrix as he connects (or not) with co-workers and calibrates degrees of significance (or non) between lovers. It’s The Office meets Jane Austen, with a twist. I adored this novel.”
Mameve Medwed, author of Mail and How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life“Alternatives to Sex is a bravura performance, chockablock with well-chosen words, sweeping psychological insights no truer than they should be, and characters who just might fulfill their desires for lodging and love.”
Washington Post“Funny and affecting...[Alternatives to Sex] offers a series of lively and trenchant character portraits and a shrewd appealing commentary on contemporary manners and morals.”
People (Critics Choice)“[McCauley’s] characters are complex and charismatic, his dialogue is winning, and consistently he plumbs the intersection of love and desirealways with brio and good cheer. He is reminiscent in that regard of Elinor Lipman and Nick Hornby.”
The Boston Globe “Stephen McCauley is a social satirist in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh and Oscar Wilde…with fierce, occasionally lacerating wit and a commendable willingness to dally in ambivalence and moral ambiguity."
Los Angeles Times“Like the Victorian novels admired by McCauley’s narrator, Insignificant Others is fuelled by curiosity about the way we live nowour deceptions and self-deceptions, our great yearnings and small vanities, our many excruciating social miscues and misfires. It is an incisive, rueful, humane, very smart, and very funny book.”
Joan Wickersham, author of The Suicide Index“Reading Insignificant Others is like being a guest at the best kind of dinner partyevery morsel is delicious, every guest is fascinating, and best of all you are in the company of the utterly irresistible Richard, who has strong opinions and deep insights about almost everyone, except perhaps himself. Even as I devoured this book I was deeply sorry to reach the end. Happily, I can go right back to read it again and again.”
Margot Livesey, author of Eva Moves the Furniture and The House on Fortune Street
Review
“The master of the modern comedy of manners.” —USA Today “Charming…McCauley displays terrific comic insight about our penchant for denial while still revealing a great deal of compassion for human foibles.” —Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald “A sparkling writer . . . he tosses off witticisms with the alacrity of a Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde.” —Heller McAlpin, NPR.org “Insignificant Others is vintage McCauley, offering up the usual mixture of hilarity, pathos, irony, and regret. It’s The Office meets Jane Austen, with a twist.” —Mameve Medwed “A novel with pithy observations, lightness of touch, and generosity of spirit.” —Kirkus Reviews
Review
“The master of the modern comedy of manners.” —USA Today
Review
“Charming…McCauley displays terrific comic insight about our penchant for denial while still revealing a great deal of compassion for human foibles.” —Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald
Review
“A sparkling writer . . . he tosses off witticisms with the alacrity of a Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde.” —Heller McAlpin, NPR.org
Review
“Insignificant Others is vintage McCauley, offering up the usual mixture of hilarity, pathos, irony, and regret. It’s The Office meets Jane Austen, with a twist.” —Mameve Medwed
Review
“A novel with pithy observations, lightness of touch, and generosity of spirit.” —Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
McCauley, "the master of the modern comedy of manners" (USA Today) introduces an ensemble cast whose personal and professional lives are undone.
Synopsis
What do you do when you discover that your insignificant other is becoming more significant than your spouse? Richard Rossi works in HR at a Boston-based software company and prides himself on his understanding of the foibles and fictions we all use to get through the day. Too bad he's not as good at spotting such behavior in himself.
What else could explain his passionate affair with Benjamin, a very unavailable married man? Richard suggests birthday presents for Benjamin's wife and vacation plans for his kids, meets him for lunch at a sublet apartment, and would never think about calling him after business hours.
Since Richard is not entirely available himself--there's Conrad, his adorable if maddening partner to contend with--it all seems perfect. But when cosmopolitan Conrad starts spending a suspicious amount of time in Ohio, and economic uncertainty challenges Richard's chances for promotion, he realizes his priorities might be a little skewed.
With a cast of sharply drawn friends, frenemies, colleagues, and personal trainers, Insignificant Others is classic McCauley--a hilarious and ultimately haunting social satire about life in the United States at the bitter end of the boom years, when clinging to significant people and pursuits has never been more important--if only one could figure out what they are.
About the Author
Stephen McCauley is the author of Alternatives to Sex, True Enough, The Man of the House, The Easy Way Out, and The Object of My Affection.