In the tradition of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club and Ernest Hemingway’s Men Without Women, Two Syllable Men presents the male psyche in all its fragmented glory. From William, who finds his immigrant girlfriend’s English language translation notebook, and in it the words that define their growing relationship, to Steven, who is comforted whenever he spies trees or shrubs peeking out from the roofs of urban buildings, and who can’t walk through the bus station without physically running into people, and Harold, who will only eat an even-number of food items at any meal, and numbs his heartache by buying in bulk at Sam’s Club. These men, and nine more, still have fight left in them. They do not want to be alone, but learn that often the best way to find love and lasting happiness is to look inward, not outward.
Industry Reviews
"Mirroring the great short stories by Raymond Carver, Two Syllable Men will appeal to both men and women. McCaffrey's use of dialogue to plum the rich internal worlds of his characters is uncanny, and his modern take on the age-old battle of the sexes reveals a soulful poignancy." JILL DEARMAN, AUTHOR OF THE GREAT BRAVURA
"Down, but not out, the men of John McCaffrey's Two Syllable Men are as complicated as they are conflicted: not to be reduced to the sum of their two syllables. Wounded by loss and longing for love, they may feel compelled to lie, cheat, steal-or simply charm-to conceal their vulnerability, yet aspire to so much more. McCaffrey's twelve stories here are astute case studies of the human male, finely nuanced with pathos while undeniably hilarious." TIM BRIDWELL, AUTHOR OF SOPHRONIA L.
"With the rhythmic precision of a prose poem, Two Syllable Men charts the interiors of twelve remote men in or around love. John McCaffrey writes with a musicality that's rare in literature today." IRIS SMYLES, AUTHOR OF IRIS HAS FREE TIME
"It makes sense that this book opens with a quote from Pablo Neruda: master of writing odes to simple things that end up encompassing all of life. McCaffrey does that too. His stories are filled with the sensory: beige heels, bacon fat and peanut butter sandwiches, ATM receipts, kickboxing, sex on boats, yoga, the office. You feel bad for these characters, but you also relate to them. The men in these stories represent aging and growth, and sometimes the refusal to do either. McCaffrey's stories are easy to read, but they give you things to think about for a long time. He makes embarrassment and loneliness so real that it's almost uncomfortable. He proves that people-all people-have layers of complexity. And really, at the end of the day, all we need is someone to eat a meal with." MICAH LING, AUTHOR OF FLASHES OF LIFE
"John McCaffrey is a writer who thinks carefully about what he has to say, then chooses his words deliberately and wonderfully well. He's insightful, literate, funny and wise. Read these stories! They're finely-crafted gems!" BURT WEISSBOURD, AUTHOR OF THE COREY LOGAN TRILOGY
