Sex and the Death of Chivalry

Book excerpt: Our photo wore a heel through my eye, my flat had taken a turn for the apocalyptic, and the laminate floor she had so carefully picked out was a minefield of glass. Yet, somehow, it would all still be downhill from that moment. The moment I woke up and realised Lilly had left me. If I'd known then what I know now, as they say... well... Even at the best of times, it takes a special kind of chaos for me to function. I know that. Nearing forty, I should have learned by now; finding success at work, I should have been happy; but I hadn't and I wasn't. Keeping afloat in this city is easier said than done, but with Joe, my oldest friend, it feels like I have a chance. With a new girl, I might just have a hope. Still, there's always me, Harrison, getting in my way. Along with a few beers and the fallout from a pair of angry exes. I try to stay optimistic, but Lilly might just have been right. Maybe this city is the death of ambition. Maybe it's the death of maturity. And maybe it's the death of chivalry too.