Steven Rowley’s assured and moving page-turner is studded with laugh-out-loud humor and moments of profound feeling and insight. He’s an unlikely family member to help his niece and nephew work through their feelings of raw grief after their mother dies, but it turns out he’s exactly who the kids needjust as he needs them to help him address his own, less recent loss. 'Patrick is a famous bon vivant, caftan-wearing gay uncle with a fabulous house in Palm Springs. A cleverly subversive story about what makes a family.' - Christopher Castellani You’ll root for his two adorable charges as they navigate a terrible loss, and for Patrick’s own heart to make a long-overdue comeback.

'Patrick, the hero of Steven Rowley’s effervescent, utterly charming, and affecting novel, is the dearest friend you haven’t met yet. 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. 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 acting 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, overwhelmed. 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. USA Today Bestseller An NPR Book of the Year Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor Finalist for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards 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.

The guncle amazon