AustLit

'Everyone at work wants to know why an associate professor of philosophy would stoop to having sexual relations with a man as spectacularly unsuccessful as myself. Well, I don′t like to blow my own trumpet, but I think that, deep down, Suzie views me as someone financially, morally and intellectually her inferior.

'Joe has had a great life, untroubled by career or monogamy. He′s convinced that whatever he′s doing, he′d still really rather be having sex - if only middle age hadn′t made it so hard to find a woman who will share his enthusiasm.

'When he meets Suzie Pye she seems just the ticket - she even says she only wants a sexual relationship. But nothing is ever that simple ... As Joe struggles to hold Suzie to her promise, he finds himself entangled in the complexities of her life, her teenage children, her job - and his feelings towards her. Not to mention the complications of his life: e-mail surveillance, a workplace panel of inquiry, and his own family.

'Breezy, hilarious and insightful, this new novel from John Dale examines the nature of lust, love, ambition and what it means to be a man. Set in Sydney, Istanbul and Gallipoli, it is the story of an ordinary guy living at the mercy of his desires.' (From the publisher's website.)