MENTAL

A stand-up performer pens a comic memoir about the vicissitudes of modern gay life.

Comedy-writing teacher Sarfaty opens with a piece about the process of coming out to his beloved Jewish grandmother and follows it with plenty of family humor—with the addition of drag queens and sexy hustlers. Mom has wiseacre chutzpah, Dad has mute dementia and the author has a fraught love life coupled with the talent to write about it engagingly. His humorous set pieces cover the ill-fated adoption of a stinky, fat feline; a trip to Paris and London with the balking parents; and the necessary evils required to maintain a performer’s life—waiting tables, teaching aerobics, taking a gig as stage manager for a third-rate touring musical. His ersatz Phantom of the Opera company’s stay in Portugal provides the setting for spectacular farce; his work behind the bar at the gentlemen’s Eton Club affords a moving story about growing older. The character sketches—often witty, at times catty—depict hunky young studs, sad queens and acerbic ladies of both sexes. Sarfaty also chronicles plenty of manly bodies, the club scene, Internet manhunting and masturbation, as well as his relationship with lover Jeffrey. The author writes with the caustic touch of Austen Burroughs, creating a funny yet poignant portrait of his world.

A droll, writerly addition to the burgeoning shelf of gay lit.