Guy Jacobs

 

Guy Jacobs is the author of the award winning Hard-Boiled Men; a novel that has received extensive praise for its depiction of single life in New York City. A professor in a midsized state university, Jacobs was seen on CNN, Fox News and the CNBC networks.

In his novel, Hard-Boiled Men, the author provides his readers with the hilarious, whistle blowing account of academic misconduct, sexual conquest and all around emotional mayhem. Hard-Boiled Men is not the kind of novel that any of your university professors would ever assign in your undergraduate English seminar. After all, no professor would ever want his student to be privy of his inner most thoughts. Nevertheless, this book is required reading for anyone with a love for literature, a curiosity about the nature of men and the ability to laugh during life’s daunting moments.

Jacobs is an alumnus of New York University where he conducted his graduate studies and is well known for his true to life depiction of Manhattan’s fast pace nature. While Hard-Boiled Men has been argued by some to be somewhat explicit, the novel has won praise for its literary contribution to the new journalism movement.

Jacobs' writing style has been widely influenced by the writings of such authors as Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, Philip Roth and Jerzy Kosinski.
 

Visit Guy online at http://www.hardboiledmen.com

 

"There's nothing soft about the new novel "Hard-Boiled Men" by Guy Jacobs (ISBN-10: 0595382444). Guy Jacobs is a fresh, real and talented new author who has written a solid, humorous tale of a fictional university professor on a journey of single-life in a Big City. Hard-Boiled Men works well because of a great chemistry of old school story-telling mixed in with a modern day unique contemporary style. Guy Jocobs understands character development. The author's ear and eye for character thoughts and dialogue are a major successful achievement that adds the depth his story demands. Hard-Boiled Men" is a window into current human connections universally. It is smart, raw, tight and inventive while maintaining some old-school literary style...It's more Real than any 'Dr. Phil Show' and a whole lot more fun." PageOneLit.com Reviews

 

PageOneLit.com:  Who were your earliest influences and why? 

Guy Jacobs: It is difficult to choose one writer over another.  Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski and Fredrick Exley are all amazing writers whose honesty drips through the pages of their works.  Reading these guys taught me one simple rule about writing fiction, if you are going to hold anything back, don’t bother in the first place.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Why do you write? 

Guy Jacobs: I guess we all write because we are not brave enough to talk about it.

 

PageOneLit.com:  In 10 words or less describe your new book "HARD-BOILED MEN."

Guy Jacobs: An honest depiction of the thoughts and experiences of a single man

 

PageOneLit.com:  "HARD-BOILED MEN" is sharp, tight, funny and honest. You pull no punches  -- How would you describe your style/voice?

Guy Jacobs: I think you did a pretty good job answering that question just now.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Your novel is set against the background of New York City.  To a large extent it almost feels like the city is one of the main characters in the novel.  Why did you select to emphasize NYC so much in your novel?

Guy Jacobs: One of the main issues that my novel deals with is single life for a man in his mid-thirties.  Single life can at times feel exciting and at times lonely, at times enthralling and at times cold.  I believe that no city better represents these emotions better than New York.  I could not think of a better place to live but then again, I would not bring this city home to meet my mother.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Who is Benjamin Wise? How much of the author is in this character?

Guy Jacobs: Benjamin Wise is myself, my best friend, the guy I borrowed twenty bucks from and never paid back as well as a few other people that I ran across in my times.  I do not think that anyone can write a novel that doesn’t have some biographical elements in it but I would not admit to anything I wrote down.

 

PageOneLit.com:  "HARD-BOILED MEN" has been well reviewed/received. It won runner up awards for best works of fiction in book festivals in New York and Los Angeles. For a first novel are you just warming up? How important are the accolades?

Guy Jacobs: Any award is gratifying but I was most excited by a couple of letters that I received from readers who connected to my novel.  It is amazing how many people related to Ben Wise who much like them left the love of their life behind and ended up marrying somebody else.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Plot or Character - Which do you feel is more important and why?

Guy Jacobs: I have read some great books that had no plot but had great characters.  By the same token, I enjoyed the opposite as well.  A good book makes you think about it a few weeks after you finished reading it.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What did you learn from writing "HARD-BOILED MEN"?

Guy Jacobs: I learned that four years are not enough to write a single novel.  While I am happy with the book, I could easily spend a few more years on it. 

 

PageOneLit.com:  What's next?

Guy Jacobs: I am writing a new novel, something completely different than Hard-Boiled Men. You probably want to know what the book is about, but hey, ask me again in about four years.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What was the last book you read?

 

Guy Jacobs:  I recently reread the Paint Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, one of the best novels ever written.  Kosinski paints a daunting picture of what could happen if you took away food, sleep and water from any of us for more than a couple of days.  The book reminds me of a Tom Waits lyric that claimed that “If there is one thing you can say about mankind is that there is nothing kind about man.”

The Painted Bird is a nothing short of a masterpiece. It is a bit depressing but it is definitely thought provoking.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What do you think is the most important element of writing good fiction?

Guy Jacobs: Good fiction writers pay close attention to the details of real life.