Tonino Benacquista 
Thursday Night Men 

Every Thursday night at 7 o’clock a group of men meet in Paris. They are from different backgrounds and of varying ages; each one’s life, his story, his situation, is unique. What unites this unusual fraternity is heartache. Trouble, that is, with women. The meetings are held in random locations throughout the city, conducted in a spirit of openness and tolerance. In an almost religious silence, each man confesses while the others listen. Philippe is a philosopher of repute. Since the woman he considered to be his perfect mate left him, he has been dating one of the world’s most famous models in an effort to forget. Denis has been working as a waiter for years. Women have lost interest in him entirely, causing him to spiral down into depression. But one day, a mysterious woman with a suitcase appears on his doorstep and moves into his living room without explanation, throwing his life into turmoil. Yves is a husband and a cuckold who, after having discovered his wife’s betrayal, refuses to honor any and all forms of faithfulness. He is spending a lifetime’s worth of savings in search of pleasure. In The Thursday Night Men, Benacquista presents these men’s lives their testimonies as a beautifully interwoven narrative, giving his readers a variety of unexpected and amusing perspectives on romance, the relationship between the sexes, and friendship between men.