From the beloved author of The Old Place comes a tender, funny, and fresh novel spanning the 1990s and present day, about a young writer and the community he builds in New York City, and his lonely life 30 years later when an unexpected injury lands him at the local queer senior center.
Artie Anderson wouldnโt call himself lonely, not exactly. He has a beautiful apartment in the West Village, a steady career as a ghostwriter, and he has Halle and Vanessa, whoโas the daughter and ex-wife of his former partnerโare the closest thing he can call family. But when the women announce a move across the country, on Artieโs 60th birthday no less, Artie realizes that his seemingly full life isnโt quite as full as he imagined. To make matters worse, a surprising injury strips Artie of the independent lifestyle heโs used to and pushes him into the hands of GALS, the local LGBTQ senior center down the street.
Since the death of his ex-boyfriend, Abe decades ago, Artieโs intentionally avoided big crowds and close friends. So, heโs woefully unprepared for the other patrons of GALS, a group of larger-than-life seniors who insist on celebrating each and every day. They refuse to dwell in the past, but Artie, who has never quite recovered from Abeโs death and the loss of his dearest friends, canโt shake the memories of his youth, and of the chances he did, and didnโt, take.
Stretching across the 1990s and the present day, Four Squares is an intimate and profound look at what it means to create community and the lasting impressions even the most fleeting of relationships can leave. With Bobby Fingerโs signature warmth, humor, and wit, it is touching reminder that itโs never too late for a second chance at truly living...M.F