Man*hattan: a fairy tale [Kindle Edition]

Philip Higgins (Author)

Book Description

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 crazy person, and still makes it to brunch in time to tell the tale.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Higgins is a licensed clinical social worker in Massachusetts. He lives there with his husband – whom he met, dated and, when he finally came to his senses, married in Manhattan – and their adorable son in a great big old house they never could have afforded in New York City.

Product Details

• File Size: 361 KB
• Print Length: 228 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008IXE5DO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,511 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Passionate, sometimes painful, funny, and very very real. July 14, 2012

By Ulysses Dietz

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When Philip Higgins, the author of "Man*hattan" dropped by the gay-lit forum on AfterElton to give notice of his new novel, he described it as "a fluffy yarn with some brains." No, dear, fluffy it isn't. Brains, for sure, and a great deal of vivid, good, emotion-packed writing. I expected something light and amusing--a gay romance with some magical realism. But, no, really. I think Mr. Higgins is under-estimating the punch of both his story and his writing skills.

This book shows us a few months in the life of Michael Dearborn, in some ways the archetype of the thirty-something gay men in Manhattan today. Still cute enough to be nearly twinks; but old enough to be worried. He and his friends are caught up in the social and chemical whirl of twenty-first century gay New York; only Michael has recently stumbled after an intense romance of six months crashed and burned. Possibly through his own fault. He is having a hard time recovering, in spite of the gentle care his friends take of him. When they're not torturing him.

This book has very funny moments; but it is also terribly painful, because Higgins manages to cut through the giddy life of these attractive guys and reveal the lonely, loving, one-step-from-desperate men they are. There is not one easy thing in this book, and none of the expected romantic angles, from the gorgeous medical student to the life-long friend who suddenly seems like "the one," pans out the way they would in a "normal" romance novel.

Higgins does not give Michael Dearborn a free pass to a happy ending. But he does steer Michael on an odyssey through his own emotional reality that ultimately points him toward the possibility of a romantic sunset.

This is not the kind of book that the typical female m/m romance reader is going to like. Its humor is too gritty and its writing is too Proustian in its detail. But, while I didn't always feel happy while reading Higgins' first novel, I ultimately embraced Michael as a character living a life that resonated with my own in a thousand strange little ways. Read this book. It's worth the effort.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars oh michael dearborn. if i might quote poison, you "give me something to believe in" September 4, 2012

By sarita

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

this book brought me so closely into the fold of the protagonist's peer group that i now want in. using witty dialogue and quick humor, the author puts a fresh spin on all of the nuances and complexities that play out within intimate friendships & romantic encounters. here's to hoping for a sequel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging, fun, and neurotic love story August 29, 2012

By Eric Small

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Relationships are relationships. Whether they are straight, gay, or otherwise, they are never easy, rarely work out to our scripted fantasy, and are often extremely complicated.

At the heart of this story is one highly neurotic man fumbling his way through life and love making decisions that are wrong,right and in-between. Does he always make the best choices? No. Have you made some of those mistakes yourself? Of course you have, so who are you to judge, Mary?!?

Alongside the extremely funny (and spot-on!) campy banter between the gaggle of gay friends that simultaneously tease & support our main character, Michael, this is a universal (read: straight women, gay men, and highly-evolved straight men will definitely relate) story on the search for love and connection.

Mr. Higgins' style reminds me of David Sedaris, Michael Thomas Ford, and the late David Rakoff. All of these authors (though the last three all specialize in non-fiction) work in a comfortable (to them) mix of laughter, cringe-worthy moments of bared soul, self-deprecation, and real (not contrived) pathos.

I look forward to hearing more from this exciting new voice.

More About the Author

Philip Higgins is a licensed clinical social worker and fiction writer. He lives in Massachusetts with his husband - whom he met, dated and, when he finally came to his senses, married in Manhattan - and their adorable son in a great big old house they never could have afforded in New York City.