Easy Way Out

Patrick O'Neil is a travel agent who never goes anywhere. His closestconfidante, Sharon, is chain-smoking her way to singles hell, passing up manafter man. His parents, proprietors of a suburban men's store whose fortunesare sagging more visibly than its customers, can't agree how best to interferein their sons' lives. And his lover, Arthur (a nice golden retriever of a guyto whom Patrick can't quite commit), wants to cement their relationshipby buying a house.Then a call comes in the middle of another sleepless night. Tony, Patrick'sstraight-as-an-arrow younger brother, has fallen in love with a beautifullawyer who is turning him on to...opera.Unfortunately, she's not the woman he's already pledged to marry. Tony's life is a mess. Finally, the brothers have something in common.

Stephen McCauley's novels The Object of My Affection and The Man of the House were also published by Washington Square Press. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.