Messy and real

“No one over 40 should be allowed to make love in the daytime,” thinks one of Arlene Heyman’s characters in Scary Old Sex: Stories (Bloomsbury USA, $26), the debut collection from this New York City psychiatrist. Her profession may be the source of the insights that thrum through these stories, which are populated by characters past midlife who insist on continuing to live. Or perhaps it’s simply that one must grow older to appreciate that life stays messy, complicated and—most of all—full of joy. And that’s even taking into account some of the messes that Heyman’s stories cover, like 9/11, genocide, lube and cancer. This is life—and yes, death—as it really happens, and even the younger characters get a close-up look at how messy it can be to exist.