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The Squid and the Spaceman
A comedic novel that combines romantic dysfunction, edgy humor, while exploring the fluid nature of intimacy, independence, and bodily functions. It also addresses the How much can - and should you -- change for someone you love?
It's 2015 and Boston is being colonized by gendertrenders, biotech hipsters, and artisanal pickle shops. Two tone-deaf fifty-somethings, unhappy with the city's transformation, meet and fall in love.
Randall is chronically single. Jackie doesn't date men; she marries them. He's Jewish and trying to reinvent himself as an artist. She's Chinese-American and drives a muscle car. Both are struggling with their ethnic identities and worry they've aged out of the local dating pool. Both fear that this relationship is their last chance for happiness.
After four months of dating, Randall develops insomnia and Jackie develops an ulcer. Because Randall has never been married, they both agree he's the problem. He locates a therapist, Dr. Byrnes, who creates a plan for turning him into marriage material. On Byrnes' suggestion, Randall and Jackie attend a fetish conference to resuscitate their middle-aged sex life.
It's 2015 and Boston is being colonized by gendertrenders, biotech hipsters, and artisanal pickle shops. Two tone-deaf fifty-somethings, unhappy with the city's transformation, meet and fall in love.
Randall is chronically single. Jackie doesn't date men; she marries them. He's Jewish and trying to reinvent himself as an artist. She's Chinese-American and drives a muscle car. Both are struggling with their ethnic identities and worry they've aged out of the local dating pool. Both fear that this relationship is their last chance for happiness.
After four months of dating, Randall develops insomnia and Jackie develops an ulcer. Because Randall has never been married, they both agree he's the problem. He locates a therapist, Dr. Byrnes, who creates a plan for turning him into marriage material. On Byrnes' suggestion, Randall and Jackie attend a fetish conference to resuscitate their middle-aged sex life.
Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2024
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Randy Ross
4 books33 followersRandy Ross is a Boston-area writer and performer. His fiction, humor, and erotica have appeared in The Drum, Black Heart Magazine, Side B Magazine, and Calliope, among others. He is the author of two novels: God Bless Cambodia (The Permanent Press/2017) and The Squid and the Spaceman (Epsilon Books/Oct. 2024). His one-man shows have been featured at more than 30 theater festivals around the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
In 2007, Ross took a trip around the world and learned to say in three languages: "Speak English?" "Got Pepto-Bismol?" and "Where is the evacuation helicopter?" His shows and novel God Bless Cambodia were inspired by the trip.
Previously, Ross was an executive editor for PC World magazine. He is currently writing a third novel, and touring his new show, Tales of a Reluctant World Traveler.
In 2007, Ross took a trip around the world and learned to say in three languages: "Speak English?" "Got Pepto-Bismol?" and "Where is the evacuation helicopter?" His shows and novel God Bless Cambodia were inspired by the trip.
Previously, Ross was an executive editor for PC World magazine. He is currently writing a third novel, and touring his new show, Tales of a Reluctant World Traveler.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 1, 2024
Full disclosure. I shared an earlier version of the Boston 2015 middle-aged dating season with the real life Randy Ross.
The era is now sealed in amber thanks to Randy’s masterful depiction. They were the best of times. Come on. With Brady and Big Papi to show the rest of the country how much better Boston was than anywhere else, how could they not have been the best of times?
I never squired a bowler-hatted oriental girl during my season but I met a southern woman, working as a museum docent, who taught me about honesty and broad mindedness that has hopefully made me a slightly better person.
Middle-aged dating was hard then. The yearning, joys and pitfalls are fully elucidated in The Squid and the Spaceman. Read it for nostalgia if you are a fellow veteran of that campaign. Or read it for insight into a weird friend's hangups. A friend who may have also been there… I don’t know. Just read it. Randy told me he needs the sales… and the posted reviews.
The Squid and the Spaceman is a true and unvarnished look at an unlikely anti-hero. Root for Burns. His everyman struggle should inspire us all to squirm, futilely, even in the jaws of the trap closing in on us and crushing us leading to our eventual, inevitable demise.
The era is now sealed in amber thanks to Randy’s masterful depiction. They were the best of times. Come on. With Brady and Big Papi to show the rest of the country how much better Boston was than anywhere else, how could they not have been the best of times?
I never squired a bowler-hatted oriental girl during my season but I met a southern woman, working as a museum docent, who taught me about honesty and broad mindedness that has hopefully made me a slightly better person.
Middle-aged dating was hard then. The yearning, joys and pitfalls are fully elucidated in The Squid and the Spaceman. Read it for nostalgia if you are a fellow veteran of that campaign. Or read it for insight into a weird friend's hangups. A friend who may have also been there… I don’t know. Just read it. Randy told me he needs the sales… and the posted reviews.
The Squid and the Spaceman is a true and unvarnished look at an unlikely anti-hero. Root for Burns. His everyman struggle should inspire us all to squirm, futilely, even in the jaws of the trap closing in on us and crushing us leading to our eventual, inevitable demise.
Displaying 1 of 1 review