Seven Days in Rio

While Levy's (Erotomania: A Romance) comedy is about sex, it's not a sex comedy. Rather, it's a hilarious and absurdist romp that turns the cultural fascination with sex on its head. Kenny Cantor is a New York CPA vacationing in a Brazil where sex seems to be everywhere. He wants a long-term relationship with a prostitute, and calls all prostitutes "Tiffany," his pet name. Most of the women (and some of the men) he meets are Tiffanys; "I decided that the best thing I could do was to keep in motion until I found the Tiffany I was looking for." Women are quick to reveal their genitalia to Kenny (though he falls in love often, he actually has little sex) and flaunt their advanced liberal arts degrees. One conducts a business call to China while on the clock with him. Stumbling upon an international psychiatrists' convention, Kenny wants to complete years of therapy via back-to-back one-minute sessions. A slim, swift novel without chapter breaks, Levy's latest is neither sexy nor sexist, despite its obsessions. This riotous look inside the mind of a sexually preoccupied, ambitious American male is as intellectually provocative as it is ridiculous. (Aug.)