Not the usual thing I read, but got though this inbetween bouts of coughing last night...enjoyable & weirdly satisfying (the book not the coughing). The story follows Bloom,(correction; Broome) a single gay 30 something Washington guy and his quest to father a child and the relationship entanglements he gets himself into to accomplish the task. I think it's Bayard's first book and it had me hooked enough to read to the end and distracting enough for me not to notice I might have been rupturing my lungs. The dialogue works well, and no situation seems forced although the surrogate broker did creep me out a little. It's funny, touching and highly candid on matters of male masturbation fantasies and artifical insemination so if that's not for you don't read it. On the other hand, you can connect with this single gay guy who doesn't want to be single and doesn't want to miss the chance at fatherhood either. Like women hitting a certain age, his hormones are yelling and he has given himself one year to procreate despite his "swimmers" having only barely 50% motility. You even begin to feel affection for his dull predictable middle class family who originally gave him and his grandmother the horrors. His grandmother's last words: "Is this all there is"? give new meaning to Bloom (Broome), and he set's out to change the status quo. WhileBloom(Broome) searches for someone to carry on his genes with, his friends and family begin slowly changing along with Blooms'(Broomes') latest relationship that proves to be a turning point for them all. It's an interesting transformation. Does he get his baby?. Read it.

typo; the main character's name is Broome, not Bloom. Been looking for my copy of Ulysses - subconscious at work here. ( )