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Man About Town
Joel Lingeman has it all: an overpaid sinecure advising Congress, a fifteen-year partnership with a perfectly adequate lover, a cozy circle of drinking buddies. Until one day his world implodes. His lover runs off, working for Congress threatens to turn him into a felon, and Joel is hurled back, out of condition, into the dating game he couldn't manage twenty years earlier.
Amid the rubble he finds himself clinging to an image from his boyhood: a model in a swimsuit ad, buried in the back of a magazine, who had beckoned to young Joel to step through the page and into another life. Aided by a detective who is more elusive than his quarry, Joel sets out to discover the real person he knows only from a fading photograph. What begins as a quest for an idyll in the New Mexico hills ends in New Jersey, where a rundown split-level turns out to be a shrine to everyday heroism and ordinary happiness.
Joel's journey -- touching, comic, and deftly observed -- overlays a whip-smart critique of the cynicism and buffoonery of Capitol Hill and a gently acerbicaccount of how people break up and how they get together. Mark Merlis's third novel contains an unforgettable new twist on the idea that the personal is political: clever, wry, and knowing, it's a wise novel that unashamedly celebrates romance, nostalgia, and innocence.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2003
16 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Mark Merlis
13 books42 followersMark Merlis is an American writer and health policy analyst. He became an independent consultant in 2001, writing papers for government agencies and for organizations such as AARP, the American Cancer Society, and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Born in Framingham, Massachusetts and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Merlis attended Wesleyan University and Brown University. He subsequently took a job with the Maryland Department of Health to support himself while writing. In 1987, he took a job with the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress as a social legislation specialist, and was involved in the creation of the Ryan White Care Act.
Beginning in the 1990s, Merlis published a series of novels. His first novel about a closeted literature professor in the McCarthy era, American Studies, won the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Literature and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction in 1995, and his second, An Arrow's Flight, a riff on the Philoctetes myth, set simultaneously in the ancient and modern worlds, won the 1999 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.
Merlis currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his partner Bob, and continues to work as an independent health policy consultant.
Born in Framingham, Massachusetts and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Merlis attended Wesleyan University and Brown University. He subsequently took a job with the Maryland Department of Health to support himself while writing. In 1987, he took a job with the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress as a social legislation specialist, and was involved in the creation of the Ryan White Care Act.
Beginning in the 1990s, Merlis published a series of novels. His first novel about a closeted literature professor in the McCarthy era, American Studies, won the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Literature and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction in 1995, and his second, An Arrow's Flight, a riff on the Philoctetes myth, set simultaneously in the ancient and modern worlds, won the 1999 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.
Merlis currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his partner Bob, and continues to work as an independent health policy consultant.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 25, 2023
This writer is consistently brilliant, and I've been meaning to re-read this novel. Merlis is a smart and rewarding writer, and I've never been disappointed.
This is a novel about Washington DC insiders doing their best and their worst at living, hiding, flaunting, and enduring.
This is a novel about Washington DC insiders doing their best and their worst at living, hiding, flaunting, and enduring.
March 6, 2019
Mark Merlis wrote gay fiction Haute Couture. His writing is of the highes quality and precision, his novels are compelling and intelligent, but I don't remember him being also that amusing, especially considering the topic.
A great portrait of a middle aged gay man who goes through a personal middle-aged crisis after having being abandoned by his partner of fifteen years, but also exciting reflections and observations of the political Washington, very clever and with a lot of humour.
September 11, 2017
What starts off as a simple story of a congressional employee dealing with being dumped by his long-term partner takes on two other significant plots. Joel is in his 40s, not exactly happy. After being dumped by Sam, he has a difficult time re-entering the bar scene with any skills in man-hunting, for sex or love.
At his job, he objectively helps a clueless conservative Senator draft a bill that will cut health benefits from people with HIV. Meanwhile, his minor teenhood obsession over a handsome model in a magazine swimsuit ad gradually absorbs his private time. Merlis blends these elements into a cutting critique of the most difficult ageist aspects of gay life, the search for identity in a heteronormative world, and the toll the closet takes on becoming fulfilled. Joel's own inner racism, his dismissal of veiled homophobia at work, and his disappointment in his career as a mere cog in politics could be a real downer. But Merlis offers a glimmer of bittersweet hope in an unlikely yet inevitable conclusion. Also, the writing is so good, it makes for compelling reading.
At his job, he objectively helps a clueless conservative Senator draft a bill that will cut health benefits from people with HIV. Meanwhile, his minor teenhood obsession over a handsome model in a magazine swimsuit ad gradually absorbs his private time. Merlis blends these elements into a cutting critique of the most difficult ageist aspects of gay life, the search for identity in a heteronormative world, and the toll the closet takes on becoming fulfilled. Joel's own inner racism, his dismissal of veiled homophobia at work, and his disappointment in his career as a mere cog in politics could be a real downer. But Merlis offers a glimmer of bittersweet hope in an unlikely yet inevitable conclusion. Also, the writing is so good, it makes for compelling reading.
October 4, 2021
Man About Town turned out to be better than I was anticipating. I was relieved that the book did not bore me to tears with its wonkiness (I say "wonk" in the strictest DC meaning), which ultimately turned out to be a negligible storyline anyway: Washington, D.C. indeed plays as a character in this story, but it doesn't really serve the true soul of this novel, which is about an aging gay [white] man in the throes of his contented midlife.
Joel Lingeman, a policy adviser, is oblivious to the fact that his lover is cheating on him. That is, until his lover finally exits the picture. How did Joel reach this point? How did he sleepily ignore the infidelity? How did he end up in DC with his partner and not, say, in New York, living the fabulously stag life of a penthouse bachelor? Or in New Mexico, the locus for his deep-seated passion? Or in New Jersey, the site of multiple reckonings?
My favorite character in this novel was Ron until he wasn't, and frankly, that's how many of the characters in this novel are treated: as personages in flux, human beings who evolve with time and information. The changing nature of people & memory in this story may be something to lament, or it may be an opportunity for introspection. This particular aspect of Man About Town felt so real yet so sympathetic, and I loved it. Joel isn't truly an unlikable, obtuse guy; on the contrary, he's very affable, contemplative, "educable," evident in his sincere meditations on both larger topics, like race, wealth, & legislative impact, and more micro matters, like rooting out old flames who may or may not realize you ever existed at all.
Man About Town starts out mundanely enough, but like the characters & themes that it explores, it becomes something quite beautiful, a word that I think Joel would appropriate in his own earnest way.
Joel Lingeman, a policy adviser, is oblivious to the fact that his lover is cheating on him. That is, until his lover finally exits the picture. How did Joel reach this point? How did he sleepily ignore the infidelity? How did he end up in DC with his partner and not, say, in New York, living the fabulously stag life of a penthouse bachelor? Or in New Mexico, the locus for his deep-seated passion? Or in New Jersey, the site of multiple reckonings?
My favorite character in this novel was Ron until he wasn't, and frankly, that's how many of the characters in this novel are treated: as personages in flux, human beings who evolve with time and information. The changing nature of people & memory in this story may be something to lament, or it may be an opportunity for introspection. This particular aspect of Man About Town felt so real yet so sympathetic, and I loved it. Joel isn't truly an unlikable, obtuse guy; on the contrary, he's very affable, contemplative, "educable," evident in his sincere meditations on both larger topics, like race, wealth, & legislative impact, and more micro matters, like rooting out old flames who may or may not realize you ever existed at all.
Man About Town starts out mundanely enough, but like the characters & themes that it explores, it becomes something quite beautiful, a word that I think Joel would appropriate in his own earnest way.
April 21, 2010
I liked who and what this book was about--a 45 year old man whose 15 year relationship ends which shakes up his atrophied life. The writing is intellegent, truthful and for the most part humorous--though it teeters on the edge of fatalistic and self-pitying (which must be since it's describing the main character's point of view). The storylines also are deftly realized and for the most part believable--though one of them I had a little trouble buying. The most interesting storyline is about the progress of a homophobic amendment to a Medicare bill. But this, like the other two storylines builds up to a point, resolves anticlimactically and then just disappears. This is my biggest problem with the book. I was along for the ride until at the end it seemed we didn't get anywhere. This is perhaps the point and probably true to life but it doesn't make for a satisfying read. I think this is a story that readers will react to very differently depending where they are in their lives. Ultimately, I responded to and appreciated much of it but was let down by the resolution.
March 17, 2018
Mark Merlis died last year and of his four books, this one has the most autobiographical details of his life. I truly hope that he was was different from Joel Lingerman, the main character who seems to be a bit of a nebbish and has made a lot of dubious choices in life. Merlis beautifully details the inner workings of a mind that is not functioning at its highest potential. The ending was quite suspenseful and very moving. Merlin was truly a wonderful writer. Highly recommend this book!
July 11, 2025
Very glad I stuck with it. I found the main character and Merlis's writing voice really grating in the first few pages, so the book was essentially on probation until about Chapter 3. By that point I could see Merlis was serving up a usefully unsympathetic cast of characters, and he was diving deep into some unpleasant, unhealthy gay guy behavior that tends to get airbrushed in most gay fiction. It's a tale of arrested development, entitlement, self-righteousness mixed with shame, and schadenfreude. But it's also a rich, enlightening journey.
The story hit me in the gut several times and prompted me to reflect on some of my own behavior, and how it affects the people around me. And probably any self-aware gay dude over, say, 35 will identify with the indignities of aging in a culture that can't seem to get over yoking youth and hotness to self-worth.
The story hit me in the gut several times and prompted me to reflect on some of my own behavior, and how it affects the people around me. And probably any self-aware gay dude over, say, 35 will identify with the indignities of aging in a culture that can't seem to get over yoking youth and hotness to self-worth.
December 2, 2017
A bit disappointing after enjoying American Studies so much, but still a good book, sharp insights.....
December 22, 2013
I really enjoyed reading this book. The pluses included the setting: familiarity of DC. The main character is this fairly regular gay guy in his early 40s. He has his strengths (career, for instance) and weaknesses (lousy at relationships and alcohol problems) as well as a creepy / cute obsession with the photo of a guy he saw in a magazine decades ago. So much so that he gets a private detective to track him down.
There is enough suspense and drama throughout the book which made me read it pretty fast. I am curious as to what else he wrote.
There is enough suspense and drama throughout the book which made me read it pretty fast. I am curious as to what else he wrote.
October 17, 2008
My first 'serious' book in awhile - you know, contemporary drama with a challenging emotional mindscape. Growing older and suddenly being a single gay-man in Washington, DC. The images of the political life in the bureaucracy surrounding Congress are amongst the most interesting in the book. The book is rigorously honest by one of my favorite authors, who himself spent the first part of his life as a bureaucrat in DC before discovering he had a remarkable talent as an author.
August 18, 2011
After the first few pages, I was disappointed with the impression that this was going to be a book of gay lust and gay-bar drama. But that certainly turned out to be a wrong first impression! The protagonist and story line soon displayed serious depth in many directions — relationships, morlizing politics, personal responsibility, AIDS…. I learned of this novel through the Seattle Public Library's reading list "Gay and Lesbian Fiction."
March 16, 2015
Dreadful.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews