YELLOW FEVER

Vries’ debut novel depicts one man’s quest for love and sex in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Moniker, a divorced American male living in Canada, is obsessed with sleeping with as many women as possible. Indeed, he has sleeping around down to a science, with multiple online dating profiles set up to help satisfy his insatiable sexual desire (particularly for Asian women). As he manages to pull off the difficult task of dating at least two women at all times, it seems as if nothing can stop him—until a distinctly non-Asian intern at his workplace named Monika catches his eye. She’s a single mother from Romania, hungry for advancement and critical of all things North American. She judges Moniker on everything from his choice of shoes to his body hair. In many ways, she seems to be Moniker’s match, and the two enter into a volatile relationship full of jealousy and occasional tenderness. This raunchy escapade through rainy Vancouver is full of highly explicit sex and politically incorrect language (“In the future white women be inserting Asian genes into them to prevent hair growth, sweating and gaining weight!”). Moniker is a believable womanizer; he’s proud of his conquests no matter whose feelings get hurt, and he never seems to learn any real lessons. Although his outward appearance changes (with Monika’s help), he never truly grows as an individual. As a result, the character may come across as a prejudiced jerk to many readers, who may find it difficult to root for him—particularly when he’s much the same at the end of the story as he is at the beginning.

A story of an unrepentant womanizer’s journey, which may not be to all tastes.