Nevertheless, Patrick packs the kids off to his home in Palm Springs.

Patrick’s been living the life of a single man for a very long time, and his brother’s request feels like a total impossibility. His attempt at teaching them about the right angles at which to take a selfie and the importance of the movie Grease are interrupted when the kids’ father, Greg, calls and begs Patrick to take the kids for ninety more days while he gets clean of his pill addiction in rehab. With the humor and heart we’ve come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times.Call him “Uncle Mame.” Former sitcom actor Patrick – who worked under the pseudonym Jack Curtis – is hosting his niece and nephew, food fussy nine-year-old Maisey and lisping six-year-old Grant, on a long vacation in the wake of their mother’s tragic death from a long illness. Quickly realizing that parenting-even if temporary-isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor comes a warm and deeply funny novel about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer.

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