CHEATERS

Dickey’s fourth novel easily fulfills the expectations created by his earlier work (Milk in My Coffee, 1998, etc.) and introduces a fresh sobriety to his talent for dialogue and character in a tale of duplicitous love. His people are African-American Los Angelenos in their late 20’s with advanced degrees, hard bodies, and substantial sexual appetites, making for plenty of bedroom gymnastics as the novel develops. Stephan, a software designer, lives by the creed his father taught him: “Find “em, Fool “em, Fuck “em, Forget “em.” Through the course of the story, he applies this quaint adage to Brittany, Toyomi, and Samantha, but is stopped cold by Chante, an accountant with a major firm, who captures his body and heart. The sex is great, but the two carry healing hearts into their affair, which makes for Dickey’s most subtly written pages. The marriage of Darnell and Dawn, friends of Stephan’s, is a close second: a lawyer with the FAA, Darnell spends his evenings tapping out a novel while Dawn, hoping for a child, resents the intrusion of her husband’s “hobby” into her plans. With Dawn’s indifference to his art, Darnell is deeply attracted to Tammy, a friend of Chante’s. In Stephan’s life, Luke remains at the periphery, haunted by dreams of the aborted children that line the trail of Stephan’s squiring; while from the sidelines of Chante’s life, the celibate and insecure Karen lobs acid comments on her friends” sexual lives. In this dense and smoothly done work, each of the characters remains distinct, and heat is generated less by the crackling dialogue than by the inevitable clashes between their ideas about love, loyalty, and commitment. A thoughtful step forward for its author, Dickey’s story depicts love as a world of hurt broken up by the hesitant joys available—here and there—to the experienced heart. (Literary Guild and Doubleday alternate selection; author tour)