Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1555839525
Manufacturer: Alyson Books
Average Customer Review: 
(From 15 total reviews)
List Price: $14.95
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Editorial Reviews
Book Description:
“If gallantry in our day is defined as facing adversity with screams of laughter, then this is the most gallant book I know of.”-Edmund White
Although he was born gay, Curtis Jenkins has trouble, uh, picking fruit. He is still searching for that elusive man of his dreams. Unfortunately, Curtis has already formed a self-destructive pattern of choosing all the wrong men, often in all the wrong places. Date after date, hell just gets that much closer. But Curtis is an optimist, and vows never to give up.
Download Description:
‘If gallantry in our day is defined as facing adversity with screams of laughter, then this is the most gallant book I know of.” -Edmund White
Although he was born gay, Curtis Jenkins has trouble picking fruit. Now a successful middle-aged New York City writer, he is still searching for that elusive man of his dreams. Unfortunately, Curtis has already formed a self-destructive pattern of choosing all the wrong men in all the wrong places.
After a bizarre yet comical attempt at suicide Curtis becomes a reluctant patient of the aging and eccentric psychiatrist Dr. Magda Tunick. Her gruff and unethical approach to therapy relentlessly pushes Jenkins to explore the real reasons why he hasn’t found love and helps him to discover the important qualities he desires in a man.
Eager to help Curtis on his quest to find his true soul mate is his irreverent and unpredictable mother, Mrs. J., and his incorrigible best friend and soap opera writer, Quinn.
Will Curtis discover who and what he truly wants in his life? While he barely survives dates that are funny, frightening, sexy, moving, and even shocking, Curtis may just uncover the fortitude to find Mr. Right (or even Mr. Pretty Close).
Customer Reviews
How to pick the finest fruit by Suzanne Kopoulos
Curtis Jenkins had the worst luck when it came to dating. His own mother, who openly smoked joints and drank beer while breast-feeding his younger brother, was a seasoned veteran of the dating world and far more successful.
No matter how much encouragement his mother and best friend Quinn provided, Curtis couldn’t make a relationship stick. So he embarks on a dating crusade and his efforts result in hilarity.
Arthur Wooten’s witty dialog and fast-paced plot gives his readers a highly enjoyable romp through New York and its singles scene. Thanks to his cautious optimism, you’ll find yourself cheering on Curtis to break his string of bad dates and find ever-lasting love.
entertaining read inspired by our own reality by A. Oswald
It’s deliciously funny. It’s a page turner. It’s fiction but also reality. In “On Picking Fruit” Arthur Wooten delivers a lesson in life–in our modern love and dating life that is–in an entertaining way and with the help of a funny, yet insightful character, Curtis Jenkins. After reading the last page of “On Picking Fruit,” one can only wonder what Jenkins is up to next, in the sequel “Fruit Cocktail.”
On searching for Mr Right by Benjamin
Curtis Jenkins was born gay, so says his gregarious and outrageous mother; he never had a problem about coming out, she’d already told everyone at every opportunity. But now in his mid forties and a successful writer he is still single, and HIV positive. Then one day he wakes to finds himself in hospital, not knowing how he got there, he learns that he attempted suicide, or so it is claimed. However as a condition of his release from hospital he is required to make an appointment with a psychiatrist. His best friend Quinn recommends the very elderly and slightly odd Magda; she in turn suggests what he needs to do is date at least two men a week until he finds Mr Right.
Curtis diligently sets about his task, meeting men in bars, in internet chat rooms, through dating services and any other way he can manage. Not surprisingly he encounters a varied selection of characters, from ordinary to gorgeous, some quirky, several self-obsessed; some manage a second date, some don’t even last the first. Along the way he has to contend with the support, encouragement and intervention of his mother and Quinn, not to mention his mother’s eccentricities. Eventually he appears at least to come to a positive decision.
Very funny from the first page when Curtis introduces himself with a few scenes from his youth, the hilarity and wit is sustained throughout, be it the high or the low points of Curtis’ adventure. While it took a while to relate sympathetically to our hero Curtis, eventually I began to warm to him, and at the conclusion found it a satisfying and worthwhile read.
Looking at Life by Amos Lassen
Wooten, Arthur, “On Picking Fruit”. Alyson Books, 2006.
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
“On Picking Fruit” is destined to move to one of the top spots on my favorite fiction list. Arthur Wooten presents a portrayal of an average middle aged man attempting to do what we all want in life, a place where we can be comfortable and someone to share them with. He does so in a delightful and charming read with fascinating characters and witty prose. The book is pure entertainment–no heavy thought required, no outrageous moments and not a lot of sex.
Curtis Jenkins, the hero, is a successful idle -aged writer living comfortably in New York. He has just one problem and that is he can’t seem to find the right Mr. Right. His mother (overbearing and flamboyant) and his best friend, Quinn, feel that he is too picky and convince him to go and see Dr. Magda Turnick , a Dr. Phil type relationship guru. Turnick convinces Jenkins that he must date at least once a week while he is undergoing therapy with her. His adventure start and become more interesting and amusing. Some of the guys he meets are fascinating–a Liza Minelli drag queen, a selfish sort who eats steak while he offers Jenkins cheese, a narcoleptic con artist and a younger man who made him hide under the bed when his mother came home.
There were times that while reading I found myself laughing out loud. The book seems to me to be satire on gay dating. And hence the title–dating is a lot harder work than picking fruit.
This is one of the books that when you read it, you think to yourself, “I resemble that”. Wooten captures the emotions that many of us think we have managed to shuck. Basically the book is a travelogue of the life of Jenkins. It is a short book and once you start it you are determined not to close it until you finish.
One important fact is that Curtis Jenkins is HIV positive and Wooten uses this to show that a postive status should not affect the way one lives his life and carries himself. One thing I did notice was that some of the men he meets seem to have no clue about HIV or safer sex. But this happens in society so it is important to be aware of it.
Middle-aged gay men are seldom written about. As we get older some seem to think not only are we less desirable sexually, we are also less interesting socially. I often say that you know when you are getting older (I did not say MATURING) when you become one of the men that you used to say no to. People do not seem to want to read about middle age but once you start “On Reading Fruit” you will see that this is a field that should have more written about it. This is a fun book that is insightfully written and a pleasure to read. It is about all of our lives–those of us who are already at middle age and those of you that are on the way. It takes on the serious topic of finding a connection and a meaning to our lives and relationships and presents it in a humorous way. It is a human drama about the mistakes we have made and the foolish things we have dome. It is about what we have or have not learned and the best laid plans that have gone awry.
“On Picking Fruit” with its dynamic characters, sparkling prose and glowing wit and engaging story should be on everyone’s next to read list. It’s grand, it’s funny and it hits close to home.
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Tags: arthur wooten, gay fiction, gay romance, love