From the beloved author of The Old Place comes a tender, funny, and fresh novel about a gay writer in New York City whose life is irrevocably altered, and then again thirty years later. In 1992, on his thirtieth birthday, Artie Anderson meets the man who will change his life. Artie spends his days at a tedious advertising job, finding relief in the corner of New York City he can call his own, even as the queer community is still being ravaged by HIV. But when his birthday celebration brings Artie and his friends to his favorite bar, a chance encounter with Abe, an uptight lawyer and Artie’s opposite in almost every way, pushes Artie to want, and to ask for, more for himself. Thirty years later, Artie is stunned when Halle and Vanessa, Abe’s daughter and ex-wife, announce they are moving across the country. Artie has built a lovely, if small, life, but their departure makes Artie realize that he might be lonelier than he previously thought. When a surprising injury pushes Artie into the hands of GALS, the local center for queer seniors, a rambunctious group of elders insist on taking him under their wing. Alternating between both timelines, Four Squares is an intimate look at what it means to find community at any age. With humor and compassion, it honors the enduring power of queer friendship, its history, and how essential it is to keep those stories alive. One of NPR ’s 2024 Books We Love One of People ’s Most-Anticipated Summer Books One of People ’s Essential Reading for Pride: Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Books for Adults One of Bustle ’s 40 Most Anticipated Summer Reads One of Buzzfeed 's 18 Books That I Can’t Get Out of my Mind One of Book Riot ’s 15 of the Best LGBTQ Beach Reads of 2024 One of Amazon Book Review ’s Boks Everyone Can Read with Pride One of Barnes and Noble’s Most Anticipated Books of June 2024 One of Kirkus Review ’s 20 LGBTQ+ Books to Celebrate Pride Month One of Betches’ Best 2024 LGBTQIA+ Books to Add to Your Cart ASAP One of Brit + Co ’s 15 LGBTQ+ Books That are Essential (And Fun) Pride Month Reads One of Biblio Lifestyle ’s Top 6 Best Literary Fiction Beach Reads for Summer 2024 “A charming, heartwarming novel.” — People “ Four Squares had my heart in its hands from the first page. Finger's decades-spanning novel is not only a love letter to an ever-changing New York, but also an ode to friendships—those that are old, those that are new, and those that are entirely unexpected. It's a celebration of the power of community to uplift and heal us, and a testament to the necessity of keeping queer stories alive. It's also uproariously, side-splittingly funny.” —Grant Ginder, author of Let's Not Do That Again “Five stars for Four Squares ! A beautiful and immersive story of often achingly relatable moments of being gay and longing for love during trying times. This journey of a writer seeking to perfectly capture imperfect joys of friendships and family—trying to put words to life’s sometimes indescribable experiences—is hopeful, insightful, and absolutely delightful.” —Byron Lane, author of Big Gay Wedding “Heartfelt and entertaining…Finger’s inviting tone of warmth and decency, his empathy for these people and their world, his bright humor, skillful timing and clever phrasing, carried me along… Four Squares pays tribute to the resilience of the gay community in the face of staggering challenges, the vital importance of queer friendships and, as one GALS pal puts it, ‘the pleasure of finding your people.’ This welcome message remains as maddeningly relevant as it was way, way back in the 1990s.” — The New York Times Book Review "Finger (co-host of the popular podcast ‘Who? Weekly’) movingly captures the long struggle for queer survival in the wake of the AIDS crisis, ultimately offering a sweetly unsentimental lesson in the rediscovery of joy." — Washington Post “A sweetly melancholy novel…Finger does a nice job dramatizing Artie’s fear of dying alone, and he movingly describes the terror and prejudice gay men and lesbians faced during the AIDS crisis and beyond…Audiences hungry for a warmhearted story will happily accompany Finger on the journey.” — Shelf Awareness “Beautifully rendered…Finger is particularly adept at capturing sparky dialogue that only happens between good friends and brings alive the warm feeling only community can bring a person.” —NPR “Excuse me while I sob for 300 pages. Old people just get me so emosh, guys.” —Betches “With friendship at its heart, author Bobby Finger’s followup to The Old Place finds more tenderness within community-driven narratives.” —Pride Source "Finger’s depictions of the changes in the West Village, the depredations of aging, and the possibilities of romantic connection between older single people are acute, yet infused with a sweet shrug of resignation...A big-hearted and relatable read, especially if you’re old enough to remember the 1990s." — Kirkus Reviews “Finger’s affectionate and evo