Guy Jacobs's Blog

Do you have Amazon Prime? You can now borrow my novel Hard Boiled Men for free, check it out: tp://amzn.com/B00480OESC

Professionals in the city have been the subject of many TV shows.  These have ranged from comedies about friendship to commentaries on finding love in the city.  However, these shows have focused a great deal on relationships or on the single woman.   Professional men in the city have been overlooked and under-represented.  We all know what women think and how they go about finding their relationships, but what about the modern man in the city?  What about the thoughts and struggles he goes through?  The book Hard-Boiled Men explores this in an honest, comedic way. 
Hard-Boiled Men is heavily influenced by the works of Charles Bukowski and Philip Roth.  The narrative is honest, sharing the thoughts of the main character no matter how hilarious, inappropriate, or irreverent.  Just like Bukowski and Roth, this story revolves around the thoughts that every man has and wants to say out loud, but doesn’t.  This narrative works because you get to know the deepest thoughts of the main character.  It flows in such a way that his thoughts almost become your thoughts. 
Philip Roth is best known for being blatantly honest with his writing.  His work captures the hidden side of society.  He explored the taboo.  From this came a new honesty in the literary world.  Charles Bukowski’s was also blatantly honest.  His writing captured the life of the towns he wrote about.  His work represented the secret confessions of many men and their fantasies.  Some people love these authors while others hate them, but their work is brutally honest and unlike most modern fiction.
Guy Jacobs uses many of the same devices as Roth and Bukowski.  The narrative of this book is natural and flowing, but under all of the humor, all of the sex, and all of the thoughts you connect with, you will find that the story is about a man in the city.  The novel is really about finding yourself and coming to terms with who and what you are. 
While you are reading about the secret thoughts of the main character and learning about men in the city, you will also get a feel for Manhattan.  He properly captures the hectic and colorful city life without taking away from the main story.  After reading the novel, you will feel as if you are familiar with the city.  Like Bukowski, he knows the intimate details of the city and brings them to you through the eyes of the main character.  The main character is far from perfect, but this makes it so easy to relate to him, as we all struggle with our thoughts, emotions, and things we wish we could say, but don’t. 
We all have learned plenty about desperate women in cities, single and otherwise.  It is time to learn about the other side of the city life.  It is time to learn about the lives of the men in the city—the men who are often secondary characters in mainstream media.  This excerpt sums up the difference between the women in the city and the men in the book:  "Women have an amazing sense of optimism rarely shared by men. For the woman, there's always hope. They believe things would be better if only they waited—that their man would actually change and that love could conquer all. They're blessed by a terrific sense of agape that makes them more worthy of love than any man. Yet, it's exactly that trusting quality that ultimately leads many women to heartbreak."  Hard-Boiled Men explores the difficulty of the man in the city who is supposed to conquer all and be the hero, while wrestling with his own inner thoughts and feelings. 
From New York Under

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If you never read Henry Miller, well, you never read the greatest American novelist of the early 20th Century. Yes, this is a bold statement but if you read him, you would understand.

It is hard to pick the greatest, but if I was to recommend five Henry Miller Books to read I would suggest Sexus (the ultimate proof that men are more romantic than women), Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, The Big Sur and The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. Here are the Amazon Links. Check out the reviews:

Barbara stuck around the bar area later than usual. She had no intentions other than to help Lou close up after a long day. There was nothing special about that night. Just another simple night in another simple town in the middle of a boring state whose corn fields stretched for miles around. Barbara was born in the same delivery room where both her daughter and newest grandchild came into the world. Around these parts, people knew one another not only by their first names but also by their heartbreaks.

Big Louis’ has become a staple of the town over the years. Generation after generation of local drunks and bitter divorcees would often congregate around the oak wood counter that had more stories to tell than any modern day dramatist.

Time was getting late and the night grew older. The cold wind of darkness signaled that winter was approaching sooner than expected. By now, Barbara’s only daughter must have fallen asleep across from the old television set where she and her accidental son would spend their nights watching old cartoon shows to pass the time.

While Lou went into the back office to finish up the paperwork from another plentiful night, Barbara was doing her best to serve the last remaining drinkers while cleaning up for the night. There were still a few customers hanging around the place despite the late hour. Those same old faces that Barbara has seen for so many years. By now they all appeared exactly the same to her, beaten in their loneliness.

Jack sat all by himself at the edge of the bar. Neither the cowboy hat nor the cigarette smoke that surrounded him could disguise his tender age. While most regulars sat around and engaged in the typical conversation about college football, getting laid or whatever it was that men chose to speak about, Jack would typically keep to himself. He seemed like the quiet type.

Twenty minutes after last call and Lou was getting ready to leave. By now most customers had gone home, all with the exception of an elderly couple, a businessman who was driving through town and Jack who was writing down notes in his journal as he often did. Doing his best to avoid his empty hotel room, the stranger kept the conversation going.

“So what does a man do around this town at such a late hour? You all have any other bars that stay up later? God darn it darling, do you mind getting me one last drink?”

“Sorry hon, I am way past last call. Time for this little ole lady to call it a night, it is time for me to go home to my baby girl.”

“Well, than, can this southern gent offer the little ole lady a ride home?” He offered.

“No need sweetie, I got my own set of wheels.”

“Well in that case, there ain’t no good reason for this good ole boy to stick around this dump. Why don’t I just leave you here to be with little author boy sitting there all pretty in the corner taking notes down in his faggy journal and thinking he is better than the rest of us drunks.”

Jack let out a careful smile and in his silent way used his fingers to let Billy Bob know that he best take a flying fuck before getting his redneck ass beaten by youth.

But Barbie had it all under control. “You take it easy now Mister, ain’t no need to get to fighting”.

Now it was just the two of them. How many times did she imagine this scenario during those bracing winter nights when she would lay in bed all by herself with her fingers so soft upon her skin?

“You want a drink Jack?”

“No thanks Barbara, I am good.”

“You can call me Barbie sweetie; that is what all of my friends call me.” She smiled.

Jack slowly and unapologetically surveyed her body from the other side of the bar. Her, in her early fifties and him a mere pup. His body chiseled and foolish, hers saggy and experienced. That of course with the exception of those two large sized cups that no men regardless of age could ever keep his eyes from. True, she had to go to the doctors several times for maintenance. Most men simply have no clue of how much work these babies demand from a lady, but hey, they were totally worth it, best $2,000 her ex-husband ever spent.

After they made love on the bar counter, Jack went out for a cigarette while she laid there blissful in her state of undress. Gosh, she thought to herself, no one has screwed me like that in years.

As she invasively read through the secret pages of his journal, she came upon short passages of ordinary tales, lines of poetry and random thoughts.

How surprised was she as she came across that poem that was dated with today’s date and entitled “Barbara the Bar Keeper: a Milf’s Diet for Happy Living.”

How curious it was, she thought to herself, that one moment of living can just for a moment - erase the heavy burden of past years.

In
his novel, Hard-Boiled Men, the author provides his readers with the hilarious,
whistle blowing account of academic misconduct, sexual conquest and all around
emotional mayhem. Hard-Boiled Men is not the kind of novel that any of your
university professors would ever assign in your undergraduate English seminar.
After all, no professor would ever want his student to be privy of his inner
most thoughts. Nevertheless, this book is required reading for anyone with a
love for literature, a curiosity about the nature of men and the ability to
laugh during life’s daunting moments. Jacobs is an alumnus of New York
University where he conducted his graduate studies and is well known for his
true to life depiction of Manhattan’s fast pace nature. While Hard-Boiled Men
has been argued by some to be somewhat explicit, the novel has won praise for
its literary contribution to the new journalism movement. Jacobs'
writing style has been widely influenced by the writings of such authors as
Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, Philip Roth and Jerzy Kosinski.

Visit Guy online at http://www.hardboiledmen.com

"There's nothing
soft about the new novel "Hard-Boiled Men" by Guy Jacobs (ISBN-10: 0595382444).
Guy Jacobs is a fresh, real and talented new author who has written a solid,
humorous tale of a fictional university professor on a journey of single-life in
a Big City. Hard-Boiled Men works well because of a great chemistry of old
school story-telling mixed in with a modern day unique contemporary style. Guy
Jocobs understands character development. The author's ear and eye for character
thoughts and dialogue are a major successful achievement that adds the depth his
story demands. Hard-Boiled Men" is a window into current human connections
universally. It is smart, raw, tight and inventive while maintaining some
old-school literary style...It's more Real than any 'Dr. Phil Show' and a whole
lot more fun." PageOneLit.com
Reviews

PageOneLit.com: Who were your earliest influences and
why?
Guy Jacobs: It is difficult to choose one writer over another.
Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski and Fredrick Exley are all amazing writers whose
honesty drips through the pages of their works. Reading these guys taught me
one simple rule about writing fiction, if you are going to hold anything back,
don’t bother in the first place.

PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Guy Jacobs: I guess we all write because we are not brave
enough to talk about it.

PageOneLit.com: In 10 words or less describe your new
book "HARD-BOILED MEN."
Guy Jacobs: An honest depiction of the thoughts and
experiences of a single man

PageOneLit.com: "HARD-BOILED MEN" is sharp, tight,
funny and honest. You pull no punches -- How would you describe your
style/voice?
Guy Jacobs: I think you did a pretty good job answering that
question just now.

PageOneLit.com: Your novel is set against the background
of New York City. To a large extent it almost feels like the city is one of the
main characters in the novel. Why did you select to emphasize NYC so much in
your novel?
Guy Jacobs: One of the main issues that my novel deals with is
single life for a man in his mid-thirties. Single life can at times feel
exciting and at times lonely, at times enthralling and at times cold. I believe
that no city better represents these emotions better than New York. I could not
think of a better place to live but then again, I would not bring this city home
to meet my mother.

PageOneLit.com: Who is Benjamin Wise? How much of the
author is in this character?
Guy Jacobs: Benjamin Wise is myself, my best friend, the guy I
borrowed twenty bucks from and never paid back as well as a few other people
that I ran across in my times. I do not think that anyone can write a novel
that doesn’t have some biographical elements in it but I would not admit to
anything I wrote down.

PageOneLit.com: "HARD-BOILED MEN" has been well
reviewed/received. It won runner up awards for best works of fiction in book
festivals in New York and Los Angeles. For a first novel are you just warming
up? How important are the accolades?
Guy Jacobs: Any award is gratifying but I was most excited by
a couple of letters that I received from readers who connected to my novel. It
is amazing how many people related to Ben Wise who much like them left the love
of their life behind and ended up marrying somebody else.

PageOneLit.com: Plot or Character - Which do you feel is
more important and why?
Guy Jacobs: I have read some great books that had no plot but
had great characters. By the same token, I enjoyed the opposite as well. A
good book makes you think about it a few weeks after you finished reading
it.

PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing
"HARD-BOILED MEN"?
Guy Jacobs: I learned that four years are not enough to write
a single novel. While I am happy with the book, I could easily spend a few more
years on it.

PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Guy Jacobs: I am writing a new novel, something completely
different than Hard-Boiled Men. You probably want to know what the book is
about, but hey, ask me again in about four years.

PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you
read?

Guy Jacobs: I recently reread the Paint Bird by Jerzy
Kosinski, one of the best novels ever written. Kosinski paints a daunting
picture of what could happen if you took away food, sleep and water from any of
us for more than a couple of days. The book reminds me of a Tom Waits lyric
that claimed that “If there is one thing you can say about mankind is that there
is nothing kind about man.”
The Painted Bird is a nothing short of a
masterpiece. It is a bit depressing but it is definitely thought
provoking.

PageOneLit.com: What do you think is the most important
element of writing good fiction?
Guy Jacobs: Good fiction writers pay close attention to the
details of real life.