A tightly observed, darkly comic portrayal of a circle of middle-aged men who gather to drink, boast, commiserate and dissect their marriages, sexual exploits and anxieties; through the narrator’s wry, unsparing attention the men’s camaraderie reveals deep insecurities, hypocrisy and loneliness, turning routine conversations into a probing critique of masculinity, desire, aging and the small cruelties of suburban urban life.