First Time for Everything
A Novel
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A “big-hearted” (The Daily Beast), “LOL-worthy” (Cosmopolitan) debut about a down-on-his-luck gay man working out how he fits into the world, making up for lost time, and opening himself up to life’s possibilities
“Part of a new wave of authors releasing uplifting queer literature that casts its characters as the heroes of their lives . . . crammed with blossoming romances and glittery escapism.”—The Guardian
Danny Scudd is absolutely fine. He always dreamed of escaping the small-town life of his parents’ fish-and-chip shop, moving to London, and becoming a journalist. And, after five years in the city, his career isn’t exactly awful, and his relationship with pretentious Tobbs isn’t exactly unfulfilling. Certainly his limited-edition Dolly Parton vinyls and many (maybe too many) house plants are hitting the spot. But his world is flipped upside down when a visit to the local clinic reveals that Tobbs might not have been exactly faithful. In fact, Tobbs claims they were never operating under the “heteronormative paradigm” of monogamy to begin with. Oh, and Danny’s flatmates are unceremoniously evicting him because they want to start a family. It’s all going quite well.
Newly single and with nowhere to live, Danny is forced to move in with his best friend, Jacob, a flamboyant nonbinary artist whom he’s known since childhood, and their eccentric group of friends living in an East London “commune.” What follows is a colorful voyage of discovery through modern queer life, dating, work, and lots of therapy—all places Danny has always been too afraid to fully explore. Upon realizing just how little he knows about himself and his sexuality, he careens from one questionable decision (and man) to another, relying on his inscrutable new therapist and housemates to help him face the demons he’s spent his entire life trying to repress. Is he really fine, after all?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fry debuts with a tender and funny story of a white gay man shedding his repression. Twenty-seven-year-old Londoner Danny Scudd's life has fallen apart. His first boyfriend dumps him following an STI scare, an episode that reveals Danny was wrong to believe their relationship was monogamous; his roommates kick him out; and his job with a clickbait app crushes his aspirations to be a "serious journalist." He moves in with his childhood best friend, Jacob, a Black nonbinary performance artist, and his foray into therapy uncorks big feelings, leading to a series of questionable hookups. He's photographed while at a die-in for gay rights in Chechnya, an episode which results in him becoming a meme. Back home, he reports his boss, Stan, for having sex with a coworker at the office, getting Stan fired and himself promoted. He then tries to leverage his moment of internet fame for his company's success, alienating Jacob in the process. As Danny weathers one wild episode after another, Fry leavens moments of despair with acid humor ("Afterward, people will say I died as I lived: slow as fuck and constantly breaking down," Danny reflects as he stares ominously at train tracks). Throughout, this effervescent chronicle rings true.
