Leap Year

t is 1988, just two years away from "the decade of friendship," and there is still time on the clock for all the greed and need of the 80s to wreak havoc on the lives of this ensemble cast of distressed but endearing New Yorkers. With razor sharp wit and great comic invention, Leap Year charts the uneasy paths people take around the physical and emotional land mines of city life. The score of quirky characters ricochet back and forth between downtown lofts, art galleries, health clubs, restaurants--even a sperm bank--in the attempt to discover fame, fortune, and true love. In this leap year, however, everything seems slightly awry, as unexpected affairs, an accidental kidnapping, catering disasters, murder, and a regrettable amount of bad publicity turns everyone's lives upside down. Peter Cameron's Leap Year is a comic valentine to a frenzied era, serving up the lusts and laments of an entire generation with great wit and affection. With its large and lively cast of gay and straight characters, Leap Year is a comic satire with the same appeal as Armistad Maupin's Tales of the City novels.The many fans of Peter Cameron's brilliant novels The Weekend and Andorra now have the opportunity to read the long out-of-print debut novel of one of America's finest writers.From Publishers WeeklyA funny, fast-paced and ambitious first novel by a New Yorker writer whose stories were previously collected in One Way or Another , this romantic comedy (previously published in weekly installments in 7 Days ) chronicles a year in the life of New Yorkers lost in the twilight of the '80s. Loren and David have been separated for several months; David is torn between love for his family (they have a daughter, Kate) and passion for his male temp, Heath; Loren, now seeing Gregory, can't seem to stop loving David. While Heath struggles with the discomfort he feels at loving an older, shorter, bisexual man, Lillian, Loren and David's lonely mutual friend, consults a sperm bank; and Judith, Loren's mother (taking a sabbatical from her marriage at her husband's request) begins an affair with an Asian named Fang. Villains include scheming Amanda Paine, director of an art gallery, and Solange and Anton Shawangunk, its jaded, perverse and ultra-rich co-owners. What happens to Solange at the opening of the show Amanda gives Heath (who is an artist as well as a temp) is among the events raised above simple comedy or melodrama by Cameron's focus on issues of sexual responsibility and his resonant, jewel-like prose. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalOriginally published in 7 Days magazine, this first novel reveals skill, a dark sense of humor, and, best of all, the promise of better novels to come. Despite some rather frenetic crosscutting and a tendency toward the tour de force , it cleverly satirizes a number of quirky characters caught up in events that include an earthquake, a kidnapping, voodoo at a Day Care Center, and a murder trial. Loren and David, amiably divorced, involved with lovers, and raising their daughter, unify the novel. Other characters have at times slightly contrived connections with them. Despite the emphasis on empty lives caught up in success and sex, the author provides some likable characters, allowing the reader a sense of relief when all turns out well for them. A good choice for current and selective collections.-Elizabeth Guiney Sandvick, North Hennepin Community Coll., MinneapolisCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.