The only good thing about being ill is that I don’t feel as if I'm stealing reading time for everything else I should be doing… well, not as much as I usually do, at any rate :) I’m currently having a rip-roaring time delving into James Lear's THE BACK PASSAGE, (blatant innuendo entirely appropriate to the book. :) Anyone out there who enjoys explicit man-on-man erotic stories has a real treat in store with this book. Set in the 1920’s, the plot is an Agatha Christie-esque murder hunt, written with heaps of humour and panache. The hero, an American amateur sleuth, elbows his way through English culture, class and manners with wry zeal, and shags his way from clue to clue in the most outrageous fashion. On one level, the book brought to mind a favoured read of my twenties, Evelyn Waugh’s VILE BODIES. On another, it was a hilarious sex romp with enough innuendo to fill a good few Carry On film scripts. In the midst of this was a truly compelling murder hunt.
Gripping, seat-squirmingly sexy, and thoroughly charming too, I enjoyed every page of THE BACK PASSAGE and recommend it highly. Kudos to James Lear, and to Cleis Press for signing this superbly filthy queer extravaganza of a novel. It made my incarceration a whole lot easier to put up with.
