Kept Boy (Robert Rodi Essentials) - Softcover

Rodi, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1500593192 ISBN 13: 9781500593193

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

Long out of print, Rodi’s 1996 comedy of manners returns to revel anew in the high-stakes (and even higher-hilarity) world of sexual companionship to the rich and famous. Dennis Racine is the beautiful, pampered boy-toy of the powerful Chicago theater impresario, Farleigh Nock—and has been since he was fifteen. Now, however, he’s thirty-one, and suddenly aware that his situation may have a shelf life. When Farleigh begins to withdraw his favor—to the point of insisting Dennis help pay for his keep by (gasp) getting a job—Dennis suspects he has a newer, younger rival somewhere. And when he discovers who—and more importantly, why—Dennis finally learns he does have ambition, as he undertakes an all-out campaign to preserve his privileged lifestyle. Ranging from on-the-job slapstick to transatlantic intrigue, Kept Boy is Robert Rodi at his uproarious, subversive, unforgettable best.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Rodi is the author of nine novels, two memoirs, and two volumes of literary criticism; he’s also an accomplished monologist and musician. He lives in Chicago with his partner Jeffrey Smith and a constantly shifting number of dogs. For additional information visit his website, www.robertrodi.com

From Kirkus Reviews:

Rodi (Drag Queen, 1995, etc.) takes a shot a being the gay MoliŠre and succeeds in pulling off a smart, funny, and terrifically entertaining farce. Dennis Racine, 31, is the title's kept boy, the constant companion, since he was 15, of Farleigh Nock, 63, a wealthy theatrical producer in Chicago. Dennis is pretty self-satisfied, though vaguely wary of loosing his hunky good looks. Living with Farleigh in the producer's large house, sharing space with Farleigh's former kept boy (a queenish Greek named Christos, who does the cooking) and spending Farleigh's endless supply of money, Dennis gets understandably worried when his master turns suddenly cool and distracted. Dennis is late to assume the worst, but when he finally gets a clue, it becomes swiftly apparent that he has a rival for Farleigh's largesse: Jasper Moran, a pool boy whom Farleigh has taken a shine to, going so far as to make him the director of a new staging of an Oscar Wilde play. After several strategies for winning back Farleigh's good graces fail miserably, Dennis conspires with his gigolo brain trust, who urge him to spirit Farleigh away to Greece, thereby freeing him from Jasper's youthful clutches. The farcical quality of the story really takes over once the cast is relocated to the Aegean: Christos begins to act almost butch; a couple of American girls (including Jasper's old girlfriend) join the party--and Jasper shows up. What follows is a zany pilgrimage to the home of Jasper's Greek grandmother, who has violently little patience for fags, and further scheming from Dennis to sour Farleigh on Jasper. What happens after a desperate Dennis decides to seduce Jasper is predictable enough, but it in no way diminishes Rodi's high-speed, at times hilarious tale. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1500593192
• ISBN 13: 9781500593193
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 394