(Lulu Press, July 2005, $16.95 Trade Paper, ISBN 1-4116-2920-5)
Augie Schoenberg is twenty-two, an aspiring filmmaker at a school without a film school, and desperately single. He's just moved into the Harley Hutt, the wildest party house on campus, and has fallen hard for his roommate Victor Radhakrishna, a campus political activist who, for Augie, is "a practical demi-god: a crusader for justice in skateboarding shoes." The problem is, Augie is the only gay one in the house - or so he thinks. Set in a raucous Midwestern college town, The Unborn Spouse Situation is a darkly comic novel of sex, betrayal, and cultural clashes. Augie's search for love takes him from the cornfields of Illinois, to the gay beach and underground clubs of Chicago, and finally to the ecstasy-fueled nightlife of London, where Victor's secret threatens to keep the two apart forever. In this relationship, and in two more doomed romances - one with a deeply closeted Mexican-American frat boy, and the other with a Cuban pro-baseball player - Augie finds that the deceptively free Midwestern environment holds more challenges to these relationships than even he might've thought. The Unborn Spouse Situation is the debut novel from controversial Chicago author Matt Rauscher, who deftly combines such divisive issues as arranged marriage and gay rights, and sets it all in a town called Normal, Illinois. The Unborn Spouse Situation is sure to be considered the most sexual book of the year, and one of the smartest. Written in a raucous, voyeuristic style, Augie's story won't disappoint readers looking for a wild, sexy ride.
The Independent Gay Writer (Andrew Barriger, Author of Finding Faith):
"A stunningly quick-witted and sincere first person narrative....stark, passionate honesty....mind-blowing exhilaration....the introspection of The Catcher in the Rye....a poetic intermingling of experiences and sensations. With his novel, Matt Rauscher has proven himself a master of first-person writing."
Books To Watch Out For (Richard Labonte):
"Rauscher captures the antsy angst of urgent desire with intelligent wit, and the emotional and sexual maturity of his young character with entertaining assurance....a wonderful mix of emotional liberation and soulful melancholy....The Unborn Spouse Situation really shines."
Instinct Magazine:
"This book about college student angst set in the Midwest rocks!"
Gay Times Magazine (UK):
"A very promising, moving first-person debut....rings true emotionally."
Edge Boston:
"A sexual coming-of-age with a sardonic bite....Augie is at once a perceptive, brilliant student....smart and sexually frustrated....at book's end he feels like a friend. The Unborn Spouse Situation promises great things from its author in the future."
Gay City News (NY):
"Strangely alluring....The introspective work, which makes use of the first-person narrative to soul-wrenching effect, pulsates with a rare, unsettlingly raw energy....Spanning the full range of sexual appetites, it's refreshingly titillating.... Rauscher's borderline churlish refusal to be pigeonholed is precisely what sets the work apart from the usual angst-sodden queer teen fare."
Self-Publisher News:
"When an Indian boy meets a Jewish boy, it's kismet!"
All Material Copyright 2005, 2006, 2009 by Matt Rauscher. All Rights Reserved. Referenced quotations are copyrighted by their respective owners.