RichEisbrouch - Stories

Ben Carleson, an established gay lawyer, deftly juggles a pair of complicated trials. His client: a very nice guy. His opponents: a pair of as-bright lawyers, one a bit more skilled and slicker than the other. The object: justice, as usual.

Bodark Creek is a small, former mill town, north of Dallas and close to the Oklahoma border. Starting in 1908, Addy Bronner Braden spends most of her very long life there, surrounded by her large, close family. She loves them, leads them, and depends on them.

There is one gay person in this book – my husband. That makes sense, since the book is based on one half of his family tree. But he only turns up at the very end and as a visitor. And that about defines the relationship between gay people and this part of his family.

Phil Weber, a Iowa college math teacher in his mid-twenties, heads off to Mexico for the summer, to try and forget his ex-lover. He's looking for an adventure, and he finds a couple he hadn't expected.

Jake's adventures continue in this funny book about the small Los Angeles apartment building he lives in. It's full of hot young people who spend a lot of time nearly naked around the pool. But they're often bonkers.

The 23-year old son of a small town, gay police detective in western Massachusetts disappears in Los Angeles while working in the film industry. And the detective -- recently divorced and in a new relationship with a terrific guy -- reluctantly goes to investigate. Along the way, he learns some surprising things about himself.

Jim Blazak lives in a terrifically accepting world. If only his boyfriend would cooperate. Yeah, there are a couple of other problems. But Jim's bright. And funny. And he looks pretty hot without a shirt.

This introduces Jake, the narrator of Moorpark Palms, a funny book of stories about a small Los Angeles apartment building in the 1990s. Jake & Conor is a light little romance, once intertwined with the longer book. I broke it out because it distracted from the apartment stories.

Harry Sussman is a perfectly nice guy in his early 30s. He's a successful architect who lives in western Massachusetts. He's intelligent. He's stable. He's reasonably good-looking. He just wants to meet a nice guy to marry. Now how hard can that be?

A couple of young guys in the present try to figure out a mysterious legend from the past.

Meanwhile, some years earlier, a young, Native American wife is being admired by a young warrior from another family, temporarily stranded because of an injury.

And there are bears.

Nine guys at a summer camp. Eight waiters: Rob, Nate, Brian, Greg, Steve, Dan, Paul, Jim. And a counselor: Andy.

The waiters have a lot of fun in their generous spare time -- the usual camp activities, plus shooting some hoops, playing some cards, and generally messing around. And at least one of them's a joker.

The counselor has other plans, aiming for a different kind of fun. But fun.

Short chapters. Easy reading. As usual, comments are welcome.

Enjoy.