The Passionate Attention of an Interesting Man (25 page)

“Yes, well, you can
play
the Heavy Father. But you can’t be one unless you are one.” Sucking on the very last spoonful, I went on, “It’s a problem for actors, because all the gay world’s a stage, and if you play on it long enough you don’t really know who you are any more. It becomes…well…it becomes one endless puppet show.”

“What are you,” Ken asked, taking the jam jar to peer inside it, “the Hungry Tiger of Oz?”

Davey-Boy said, “He’s the wicked storyteller of Manhattan, where all his friends fall victim to love racketeers.”

That got him a look from Ken, and I said, “Don’t blame me, boys,” as I got out my little Staples notepad and a Pilot rolling ball black pen, extra fine. “I’m only the messenger.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my agent, Joe
Spieler; to Clint Bocock and Michael Scalisi; and to my publisher, Don Weise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ethan
Mordden’s work has appeared in
The New Yorker
(three short stories, A Critic At Large features, and book review leads), the
New York Times
, and the
Wall Street Journal
. His
Christopher Street
column,
Is There a Book In This
? gave birth to the five volumes of gay stories known as the Buddies series, about a “family” of friends enjoying life and love in Manhattan. Mordden’s non-fiction includes books on New York cultural history (The
Guest List: How Manhattan Defined American Sophistication
), opera, Hollywood, and Broadway, including a six-volume history of the American musical. He lives in New York.