Pucking Around

Pucking Around deals with issues of sexuality and identity, particularly as both issues pertain to Jake, who begins the novel considering himself straight and solely attracted to women and ends the novel considering himself bisexual. This shift, for Jake, is gradual, and is prompted by his sexual encounters with and romantic feelings for Caleb. Jake does not strongly question his sexuality during the first several encounters with Caleb and Rachel together, for during these early sexual acts, Rachel’s participation allows Jake to temporarily postpone the question of his own sexuality, and in the meantime, he finds himself growing more interested in and possessive of sex with Caleb. This dynamic is openly addressed when he feels jealous upon seeing Ilmari touching Caleb sexually, which leads him to perform oral sex on Caleb without Rachel’s participation in the encounter: an important first for him. This event—which feels less like group sex to Jake, despite Rachel and Mars’ presence—leads him to doubt his assumptions of heterosexuality. Even so, Jake does not pivot his self-description instantly. Rather, in a conversation with his twin, Amy, he reveals an anxiety about how to describe himself: “‘I think I might be bi,’ I blurt, cutting her off.