An Older Man by Wayne Hoffman; Bear Bones Books, $15
Readers familiar with writer Wayne Hoffman's 2006 novel Hard will recognize his main character Moe Pearlman, who, in that debut novel, was a young, sexually talented, 20-something daddy-chaser fighting against conservative, sex-negative forces in 1990s New York. The sequel, An Older Man, is just as engrossing and fun as the first book. It finds Moe several decades older and wiser, having packed on a few extra pounds and sporting a patch of thinning gray hair. It's summertime during Bear Week in Provincetown, so the seaside resort destination is packed full of the horny and the hirsute, including Moe, who travels by train, then by ferry with his ex-boyfriend Gene and Gene's new boyfriend Carlos in tow, all anticipating plenty of carnal pleasures.
Hoffman is a smart writer, and he's careful to keep Moe in character, even as he approaches middle age. The desire to find an older man to call his own still lives deep within his heart, just as it did in the 90s when he searched for love in all the wrong places. But he is now the "older man" he once longed for. How that ties into his current status is what makes this novel hum at its core.
Still, while waiting for Mr. Right to show himself, insatiably horny Moe must get laid. Brandishing a blue "cocksucker" hanky drooping out of his back right pocket ("in case anyone was old enough to remember the hanky code"), and arming himself with bug spray, breath strips, Purel hand sanitizer, and a $20 bill, our hero strolls Commercial Street making eye contact with the sexy and the hairy, only to consistently wind up beneath the rickety wooden slats of the Boatslip Resort on his knees in the sand greedily "looking around for number 10."
In an interesting narrative twist, young thin houseboy Rudd pursues Moe, and while Moe initially rejects his advances, he also pauses to take in the situation, and sees much of himself in this persistent young man. He is no longer the young man in hot pursuit, he has become "an older man." Once this reality sinks in, his heart makes room for the unexpected.
Hoffman nails gay Provincetown brilliantly: blowjobs at Dick Dock, Spiritus Pizza at 1 a.m., Boston nightlife's notorious Hat Sisters – all of the fanciful attractions are described with arresting accuracy. While the sexual romps are fun to read and the atmosphere cleverly detailed, there is more going on than simply sex, surf, and sunscreen. Ultimately, the novel is both a breezy story about a horny vacationing bear and a contemporary examination of the difficulties gay men encounter when addressing issues of self-acceptance, body image, aging, loneliness, and their own sexual culture as it evolves in the digitized 21st century.
Bear Bones Books is reissuing Hoffman's Hard debut in both digital and print formats, so for readers interested in the finely-tuned evolution of a sexy gay man from his heady twinkie 20s to his bearish 40s, this two-book set will make a perfect end-of-summer distraction.