Middle Men: Stories

Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2013: What a stunning debut collection-- funny, sad, heartfelt, and wise. Jim Gavin, a writer for the New Yorker, has trained his keen eye on the awkward and sobering stages of manhood: the yearning in-between stages; the striving but not-quite-there stages; those aching periods of want. Yet there’s a touching lack of the pathetic in the aspirations of these characters: the self-denying basketball player, the unemployed screenwriter, the widowed plumber. In fact, I found it fascinating to recognize my sons, my father, and my brother in these pages (and, yes, myself). Gavin’s men in the middle may be lazy or naïve, they may be underemployed or a bit lost, but they’re also hopers and dreamers, seeking better, brighter days amid the hazy Southern California warmth. --Neal Thompson