The Passionate Attention of an Interesting Man [Paperback]

In this new collection of a novella and four short stories, each piece tackles the relationship of the dominant and the submissive male—or the daddy and his “boy.” In one story, two straight men fall in love with each other. In another, a nerd picks up a dangerous black sailor and takes him home—but there’s a classic twist at the end. A third story presents the growing animosity between two roommates that culminates in a rape. Lastly is a comic story offers two best friends taking turns in narrating (and bickering over) events following the arrival of a famous porn model in their small Pennsylvania town.

All of the stories are brand-new and not available elsewhere. This includes one tale using the characters of Mordden’s popular Buddies series, about a New York actor desperately caught between “playing” his life as the aggressor and the victim.

Ethan Mordden’s work has appeared in The New Yorker (three short stories, A Critic At Large features, and book review leads), The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. His Christopher Street column, Is There a Book In This?, gave birth to the five volumes of gay stories known as the Buddies series, about a “family” of friends enjoying life and love in Manhattan. Mordden’s non-fiction includes books on New York cultural history (The Guest List: How Manhattan Defined American Sophistication), opera, Hollywood, and Broadway, including a six-volume history of the American musical.