Keegan's Folly
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
A mysterious thing, a man in search of love. Eros wrestles with reason; reason submits to desire. His is a virtual world of dreamy silhouettes forming on the lip of the horizon, beyond which gossamer clouds striate to ominous, revealing the coming storm. And if it’s the rainy season? Whoa! Yes, a mysterious thing, a man in search of love. But a dangerous thing a man who has found love, and lost it. A dangerous man, Keegan Kane. Dressed in blue jeans, sport shirt and tennis shoes, he finds himself fifteen minutes early for his rendezvous and takes a seat near the large plate glass window of the Verdant Temple, a Greenwich Village coffee house of some New Age distinction where the waiter, a near clone of the Dalai Lama in looks and fashion alike, asks, "May I take your order?" "I’m early and my friend will be late, so I’ll sip while I wait," Keegan says. "A double cappuccino, extra foam." "Ah, the Lotus Position." "Excuse me?" "Each of our coffee drinks has a special name, relating its contents to its karma," he responds, pointing to the menu board above the espresso bar. "For a double cappuccino, as you can see, we have selected the name Lotus Position." "Yes, well, caffeine affects some people that way." The waiter, mystified, cocks his head and then smiles again, adding a goofy little laugh. "Ah, very funny." When Keegan smiles but says nothing more, the waiter offers, "I’ll return momentarily." His own smile broadens into something quixotic, though the word stupor comes to mind, and then as the corners of his lips fold down the expression takes on the added depth of Confucian splendor. He bows slightly before turning to tend one of the fifteen fichus trees scattered throughout the shop. In fact, there are so many plants scattered about the coffee shop that it more nearly resembles a greenhouse. There are jungle-like tubers extending from the beamed ceiling, rarefied bonsai crowding window sills and thick tropical ferns jamming the floor while spreading their branches like proud peacocks during mating season. Yes, the already narrow aisles are made nearly impassable thanks to the Verdant’s ceramic motto hung near the entry: At management’s discretion, we may accept plants in lieu of cash.
This is a Chinese version of a Fellini set, Keegan muses. The place is a fire code violation on steroids. As he awaits his cappuccino, he looks about to survey the crowd where he finds, in the darker corners, shadowy human forms of no particular distinction. Near the counter are a few Bohemian types, young people with magenta and avocado hair, tattoos, piercings, baggy clothes. They gab in punkspeak - No way, dudette! - and periodically walk outside for a smoke (the Verdant being a progressive non-smoking establishment) only to return for yet another coffee and more conversation - Like, that stretch was waaaaay big, no? Three tables over, beneath a rendering of Lao-Tse, sits a couple of laid back (by New York standards) businessmen talking sports while each secretly mentally probes the wallet size of the other. Against the wall two love birds - Obviously adulterous, Keegan thinks - sit in stealth mode cooing and fawning between anxious glances at the door, just in case. And finally, two tables away there sits sprawled in a chair, alone, an incredibly nice-looking guy in his late twenties, knockout bod and all, who is manipulating a calculator and digital phone simultaneously.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Keegan’s Folly is a contemporary comedy of manners exploring the many possibilities of gay love as seen through the eyes of its protagonist, the young writer Keegan Kane who lives and works in New York. Beginning with his lover’s many infidelities, Keegan’s problems eventually extend well beyond them. As the financially successful author of two best-selling novels written as a result of a drunken bet and best described as gay harlequin romance, Keegan finds himself young, healthy, wealthy – and miserably unhappy now that his life seems to be unraveling. Following his lover’s departure to live with a wealthy Long Island financier, the lover (Wagner) writes a tell-all book recounting his promiscuous sex life on the party circuit, implicating Keegan as well. Wagner is trying to publish the book, Keegan’s agent agrees to represent him and Keegan’s publisher is interested in making an offer. To make matters worse, Keegan is now suffering from writer’s block as a result of the Wagner tell-all and the critical failure of his financially successful books. Keegan, seeking to heal his bruised ego, hires a male escort as a stand-in for a new lover to join him at the annual White party in Miami where he is to give a reading. The novel then follows Keegan and the escort, Valentino, through a series of comical scenes in Greenwich Village and on Long Island as they prepare for the White party – culminating in the climactic scene in which Valentino’s identity is unraveled. Following this rude comeuppance, matters only worsen for Keegan as he falls in love with the escort following a steamy one-night stand. But all’s well that ends well in this comedy of manners with its final scene at the Hopper exhibit at the Whitney Museum. As Keegan’s star begins to shine again, the final scene brings the novel full circle. Relying on short, clipped dialogue, this literary novel is spiced with gay camp and wit. Although, as a comedy of manners, it borders on farce, it is an entertainment with meat to it, a literary satire on the contemporary scene of the publishing world and the timeless themes surrounding the foibles of love.
About the Author
Hutton Hayes is a writer and lawyer who lives in Indianapolis. He is the author of three novels and is currently working on a novel set in the South during the seventies.