Join author Alejandro Varela as he discusses his new book MIDDLE SPOON with Miguel Gutierrez: A conversation about heartbreak, polyamory, public health, George Michael, Regina King, and the Department of Sanitation.

“Middle Spoon subverts the ordinary novel with intelligence and vulnerability. . . . Varela has made a sly, analytical opera of the heart.” —Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less and Less Is Lost

“A rollicking delight! . . . Varela asks provocative questions about the shape of family and the nature of love.” —Ada Calhoun, New York Times bestselling author of Crush

One of Today’s 50 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025 · Named a Must-Read Book of Fall 2025 by Town & Country, W Magazine, and more

A whip-smart, blazingly funny novel about heartbreak, unconventional love, and the way society could be, from National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela

The narrator of Middle Spoon appears to be living the dream: He has a doting husband, two precocious children, all the comforts of a quiet bourgeois life—and a sexy younger boyfriend to accompany him to farmers markets and cocktail parties. But when his boyfriend abruptly dumps him, he spirals into heartbreak for the first time and must confront a world still struggling to understand polyamorous relationships. Faced with the judgment of friends and the sting of rejection, he’s left to wonder if sharing a life with both his family and his lover could ever truly be possible.

With a big heart and just the right dose of the anxieties that define the modern era, Middle Spoon skewers the unspoken rules we still live by—from taboos around intimacy to the shortcomings of Oscar season, pop culture, and gluten-free food—offering a surprising perspective on love, loss, and reinvention. Equal parts heart-wrenching and uproariously funny, Middle Spoon is for anyone who has longed, nursed a broken heart, or grappled with love at its messiest.

To reserve a copy of Middle Spoon (Viking, September 9, 2025, hardcover, $30) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Middle Spoon for December 10 event” in the subject line.

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You can also purchase Middle Spoon (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:

Middle Spoon

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Alejandro Varela’s debut novel, The Town of Babylon, was a finalist for the National Book Award. His short story collection, The People Who Report More Stress, was one of Publishers Weekly’s best works of fiction in 2023, a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, and longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, the Story Prize, and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. Varela is an editor-at-large of Apogee Journal, holds a master’s degree in public health, and is based in New York.

Miguel Gutierrez (he/him) is an artist and educator living between Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, NY and Tovaangar/Los Angeles. Recent performance work includes Super Nothing, a dance blueprint for queer survival developed through the Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist program at New York Live Arts, and sueño, his music project of original songs. His work has been presented internationally for over twenty years in venues such as Festival D’Automne in Paris, REDCAT, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Festival Universitario in Colombia, and as a selected artist in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. His writing has appeared in BOMB online, Small Press Traffic’s The Back Room, InDance, and most recently in SLUTS anthology from Dopamine Press and in Entanglements, a monograph on work by collaborative artists Luke George and Daniel Kok. His podcast, Are You For Sale? examines the ethical entanglement between dance making and funding.www.miguelgutierrez.org