The tenderloin

A freshly narrated, beautifully observed and emotionally affecting story of a young man's struggle for self-definition, told with equal parts charm, humor and lyricism. It's 1994 and Evan has embarked on an adventure that will change his life. Having grown up in Dublin, a relative innocent, he arrives in San Francisco with his friend, Milo, just as the city is on the cusp of a revolution: the Internet is booming and there is a new drug in town. The shiny new worlds of Apple and Microsoft illuminate the city and the rave scene coexists alongside Deadheads and hippies. But soon Evan's savings start to disappear and his friends tire of him sleeping on their floors, so he needs to take any work he can find. A chance encounter takes him to ForwardSlash, an Internet company run by the charismatic Sam Couples, a surrogate father figure but also the object of very confused emotions for the naive Evan. When Roisin, Milo's ex-girlfriend, also pitches up to remind him of their own brief encounter, Evan's confusion about his sexuality and his future is complete. Will he continue to live vicariously through his friends, or can he finally summon up the courage to act on his impulses?

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.