Way to Go, Smith

"The great thing about the shareware between a couple is that the network is limited to the two of you," writes humorist Bob Smith in "Wolf Whistling in the Dark," the first chapter in his second collection of interlinked essays. "No one has ever understood me or known me better than Tom, but recently we seemed to have forgotten each other's access code." The novella-length examination of the breakup of Smith's long-term relationship is one of the highlights of Way to Go, Smith!--but each essay has its gemlike moments. Although some of his epigrammatic quips are gay-specific ("Gay men have a tendency to examine an attractive body almost as if, by some miracle, they might have to identify it later when it turns up in their beds"), Smith's recollections of his childhood experiences at home and school would strike a chord with any reader. His sexuality and the experiences that stem from it are combined with these anecdotes in an unapologetic but also unassuming way that teaches all of us to accept Bob Smith just as he is (though it's hard not to like such a handsome and witty guy)--and, hopefully, to accept others around us for who they are as well. --Ron Hogan