Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Men Who Will Entice, Astound, and Amaze You!

In this newest collection of short stories from award-winning writer, Daniel M. Jaffe, red-blooded American men make mischief while exploring themselves and others throughout the United States. These men grow exhausted fulfilling heaven's anointment as a West Hollywood sex angel, endure medical sacrifice in Minneapolis while saving gay men from global extinction, encounter joy at the moment of Palm Springs transcendence to the afterlife, discover unexpected romance with someone of ambiguous gender in Chicago, revel in the laid-back sexual camaraderie of South Florida's older gay community, struggle to cease vanishing into thin air whenever spotting their beloved on Harvard's campus, fall in love with a magical Texarkana circus masturbator, and worry about the mental health of an aging Brooklyn husband. These tales of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, romance, and good old-fashioned realism, evoke deep pride in the varied wonders of being an American male.

 

Book Review

This is a collection of fifteen short stories, and midway through, I was wondering why I’ve undertaken to write what may, essentially, be fifteen individual reviews. A single author may direct us to commonality – if it even exists. Perhaps there is a theme, or a singular voice. Maybe the attraction, as here, is variety or surprise. Nonetheless, this book is a joy to read – yet surely that many petite reviews are a pain. But how can I make an enthusiastic recommendation?

 

Author Jaffe changes the scene, from Wilton Manors, Florida’s gay mecca, to other unexpected locations. The gender and age of each main character also varies. The tone is perfect for every tale.

 

(In an analytic presentation about aging, ‘Gayberry RFD’, sixty-four-year-old Sam self-describes as “… such a catch: more carry-on bags under his eyes than he could have shoved under the airplane seat in front of him…” but also sums up life in an aging community. “One man’s sex is another man’s gross.” Jaffe has a perfect handle in tone, such as pointing out that a declaration of love during sex may merely imply an impending orgasm!

 

Diverse talent? ‘Still Life with Toupee’ follows. It is a fabulist episode, with a female narrator, so abruptly unreal as to grab the imagined reader by his fictive balls, overturning expectation – more so because of the distaff voice. Yet is represents a strong connection to humanity.

 

‘Out in Nature’ is short, with clever gay/straight banter and an inner conversation which makes ethnicity an interesting coloration. Did you know that GOD was a WASP?

 

‘Helping Hands’ is an eerie piece, sure to remind those who owned a black-and-white TV of Rod Sterling's programs.

 

BASTA! as if said in one of New York’s ethnic neighborhoods. If your appetite has been whetted, enough of little tastes. The book is quite wonderful and you should read the whole thing without my offering up mere appetizers.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Rattling Good Yarns Press for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Collection, 204 pages/15 short stories
Heat Level
Publication Date	19-March-2024
Price	$9.99 ebook, $18.95 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Domestic-Affairs-Tales-American-Males-ebook/dp/B0CVBFLQGY