Attempted Chemistry

Chemistry is what everyone is hoping for when meeting a stranger at a party or responding when someone approaches in a bar. Yet, too often, relationships soon evolve into a union akin to rubbing two wet sticks together and hoping for fire, then hanging on for dear life should the spark produce flames of any size. In Jeff Gomez's new novel, the author of the cult favorite Our Noise charts the lives and loves of a variety of Manhattan men and women who find that it's not establishing the foundation of a relationship that's difficult, it's building the whole house that's hard. In sharp prose and dead-on dialogue, these characters lead lives of restless discontent and desperation. There's Daniel and Eileen, a newly cohabiting boyfriend and girlfriend who are quickly realizing the difference between dating and living together; Josh and Kendra, a young married couple who are facing the first real challenges of their marriage; Keith and Brie, a couple who lie to themselves as much as to each other; and the singles Rick, Mike, Leslie, and Cressandra, all of whom try for love in various guises, yet just can't seem to make a connection. Sad, funny, and poignant, Attempted Chemistry is a book about trying to find communion with another soul; a process that all of us have gone through at some point in our lives, in our search for love, happiness, and, of course, chemistry.