'The Guncle' by Steven Rowley

The Guncle

Author: Steven Rowley

Rating: ★★★★☆ (B)

Vibe: Palm Springs grief comedy with caftans, kids, and emotional avoidance

Quick Take: Charming and funny with a strong voice—but could’ve gone deeper on grief and could use a trim.

Patrick O’Hara is a semi-retired sitcom star living a quiet (and fabulously sun-drenched) life in Palm Springs when his world is unexpectedly upended: his best friend and sister-in-law dies, and he’s asked to take care of his young niece and nephew for the summer. What follows is a heartfelt and humorous story about grief, family, healing, and the unexpected ways we show up for each other. With sharp wit and surprising emotional depth, The Guncle explores what it means to be a gay man in a family that suddenly needs him—despite his well-maintained distance and expertly timed quips.

I liked Patrick—he’s funny, guarded, stylish, and so deeply Palm Springs it hurts. He’s the kind of character you want at your dinner party but maybe wouldn’t call when your life falls apart. That distance is part of the point, of course—The Guncle is about grief, responsibility, and the ways we armor ourselves with wit when we’re not sure how to be vulnerable. And Rowley gets a lot of that right.

But if I’m honest, I wanted more from the grief. There’s a heaviness to Patrick’s backstory—his partner is gone, his career has stalled, and he’s clearly isolated—but the novel never quite sinks into that loneliness. For a lot of gay men, myself included, the fear of being alone after love ends—whether by break-up or death—is very real. I don’t have a particularly close relationship with my family, and if I lost my husband, I genuinely don’t know what I would do or how I’d cope. That undercurrent is there in the book, but I wish it had been explored with more weight. There's emotional potential that stays just under the surface.

That said, the family dynamics are strong, and the book's best moments come when Patrick tries (awkwardly but earnestly) to show up for the kids. The banter is sharp, and the Palm Springs backdrop is vivid without feeling like a caricature. One scene that stood out: a quiet, late-night conversation on the couch, when Patrick admits he doesn’t have it all figured out. That felt real. That felt earned.

Some plot points veer into the implausible—looking at you, child protective services subplot—and the love interest felt more like a convenient bow than a meaningful thread. And yes, the book could’ve used some trimming. But even with those flaws, I’d give it a solid B. It’s heartfelt, sincere, and told in a voice that feels true to a certain kind of gay experience: someone who’s witty, put-together, and a little emotionally guarded—until life cracks him open.

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