Man*hattan: A Fairy Tale

by Philip Higgins

Meet Michael Dearborn. Telephone therapist by day, complete and utter mess by night. It's just another New York story of boy meets boy, boy breaks up with boy, boy gets depressed, works in the basement of a funeral home, drinks too much, wakes up in a strange bed, dates a sociopath, and still makes it to brunch in time to tell the tale. Man*hattan is a fluffy yarn with some brains: chick lit meets d*ck lit meets Proust. It's a New York coming-of-age story about Michael Dearborn, a 30-something therapist looking for love in all the wrong places at the same time as he doles out telephone counseling from the basement of an Upper West Side funeral home. Man*hattan is a fairy tale in more ways than one, following our little boy lost as he navigates the treacherous seas of young gay life in Manhattan, searching for the happy ending he hopes is still out there.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Queer, LGBT

230 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2012

About the author

PHILIP HIGGINS lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts with his partner, two kids and dog Rex, all of whom are adopted and can therefore lord over him that their parents *truly* chose them. When he isn't publishing a book every 13 years, Phil is a practicing psychotherapist and occasional singer, actor and burlesquer.

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man*hattan: a fairy tale by Philip Higgins is not your typical m/m romance. Though the story abounds with the Manhattanite stock bitchy gay characters, they are not there just to fill out the life of Michael, the nervous, emotionally uncertain narrator. They are at once surface-familiar and yet at odds with expectations. It is the narrator's sense of awareness and detail, and gutsy sense of humor that brings this story to life. His emotional vicissitudes steer the story away from the normal romantic paths toward something much more interesting. Anywhere a lesser writer would have inserted a romantic/sexual interlude, Mr. Higgins strikes out in a different direction, especially in the 'romantic' interludes. Mr. Higgins attention to detail does not bog down the story, rather is used to give insight and emotional heft to the narrators state of mind, and to lift the story above being just another slice of gay urban life rom-com. Man*hattan: a fairy tale is a well-written book by a new writer with a bold and interesting point of view.

[Vladimir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would make a cute indie movie. Good pacing; real, flaws-and-all characters. I really liked it.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I'm not sure how to rate this one. As a whole I enjoyed the book. It's quirky, fun and I just wanted to give Micheal hugs repeatedly. There were several things that niggled my mind but nothing too major. Sometimes I felt the story was all over the place, the ending was a bit quick and I got lost amongst all the friends occassionally. But The main characters are likeable and the story rings believable. (Side note:This is not written like your average gay romance novel, in fact the second main character doesn't have much play time but is talked about quite frequently.)

[Addicted2M/M · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Entertaining, twisty fun. Would love to read more by this author.

Left off some of my shelves to avoid "spoilers".

[D. Colwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

Philip Higgins is a very good writer. However I just couldn’t get into the story. Perhaps too much realism. I only got half way through the book. I didn’t like the characters and didn’t much care for the story. I guess I was just looking for something sweeter. Another time in another place I might have liked it more.

[John Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need more stars!

So many laughs, several tears, and Ton of feels! Absolutely loved these guys!! Author knows how to build his characters!!!

[Snowtulip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story made me want to do an impression of Cher in Moonstruck and just slap Michael Dearborn and say "snap out of it"!

I spent most of the tale in that state, but I did enjoy Michaels dry humor, moments of insight (quickly overtaken by recklessness), and cadre of friends.

It's not a typical story, it's disjointed in parts, but it still kept me entertained. The story needs some polishing, but I'm definately curious to read this new authors upcoming works.

[Lindsay Padgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read this I couldn't help but think if Sex and the the City had a gay spin off... it would be this book. It has the smart clever banter of friends over brunch, the sexy but quirky bar scenes, and the tad over self articulating character that wants to find real love.

[Eve]

Kindle freebie 7/19/12

[Dani Alexander]

Reading this fall--maybe. Sounds New Yorky.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It definitely kept me interested and made me laugh. I love Walter!

[Lillian Francis]

Free on kindle - 1 sept '12

[Kitten Blue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interesting.