When You Were Me (Robert Rodi Essentials)

At 53, Jack Ackerly is sitting on top of the world. Thanks to a lifetime of hard work and strategic business deals, he's rich, retired, and set for life. Only trouble is... he can't help regretting the wild oats he never sowed. At 26, Corey Szaslow has been living the life of Jack Ackerly's fantasies: a never-ending round of bars, parties, and one-night-stands. Only trouble is.. he can't help regretting the dead-end future that's ahead of him. If only Jack and Corey could trade places! Enter a brilliant (if rather dithering) witch named Francesca, who helpfully places Jack's mind in Corey's body, and Corey's in Jacks—and each considers his problems solved. But they soon discover that inhabiting each other's bodies is a hell of a lot easier than living each other's lives. Uproariously funny, unexpectedly moving, and uncannily insightful about the arc of a gay man's life, When You Were Me was the culmination of Robert Rodi's exploration of gay archetypes when it was first published in 2007. It's finally back in print... and like Jack and Corey, enjoying a whole new life of its own.

Robert Rodi is the author of ten novels, two memoirs, and two volumes of literary criticism; he's also an accomplished monologist and musician. He lives in Chicago with his husband, Jeffrey Smith, and a constantly shifting number of dogs.