Willing-Scott Spencer

Willing
Scott Spencer
Ecco (Harper Collins), Mar 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780060760151

Thirty-seven years old New York writer Avery Jankowsky is tired of not making it as he lives from day to day with no money put away and a diet that would make peanut butter seem like a luxury. Worse his apprehension for the future turns uglier when he learns his girlfriend Deirdre is cheating on him.

Being depressed and feeling sorry for himself, he turns to his Uncle Ezra at their monthly luncheon in Grand Central Station; Ezra says all his nephew needs is a quality sex vacation for the affluent as everyone has these moments when they can’t get it up. Ezra sends him to Iceland and from there the continent on a tour of the upper crust sex capitals of the world. Avery’s early encounters lead him to realize his tour is worthy of a book; his publisher loves the idea and gives him an advance, but as he gets to know his male companions he wonders if a tell-all is ethical.

Although the plot is somewhat limited, readers who appreciate a deep introspective character study will want to read the adventures of Avery Jankowsky on a sex tour starting in Reykjavik and climaxing seemingly all over the continent. Avery makes the tale fun as his growing understanding of himself is poignant and that of his companions insightful and humorous as he knows this tour is like traveling in a locker room with high school randy boys. Fans will enjoy the ups and downs of Jankowsky’s sexual tour.

Harriet Klausner