What if you could have sex with anyone in the world?
The ultimate fantasy? Or a nightmare of self-discovery? Michael Blasco, a young scientist investigating what happens to the brain during the process of learning, suddenly finds himself on the other end of experimentation. On the way home from his lab one night he runs into Tony, a fitness instructor from his gym who he harbors a crush for, on the same platform waiting for the subway. When Michael imagines Tony naked, a pleasant fantasy to spice up a dull journey home, an extraordinary thing happens: Tony strips then and there on the platform and offers himself to Michael in front of all onlookers. Horrified, Michael flees. But back at his apartment, Tony reappears, as if by magic. And disappears again, when Michael wishes him away. Being a scientist, Michael recognizes an experiment when he sees one, and sets out to test the parameters of his newfound gift.

I'm usually bored by "gay fiction" but this really isn't, but another transcendental kettle of fish altogether.
A pansexual erotic fable...

Michael, a young neuroscientist begins accidentally conjuring people up in front him just by thinking about them. The first is a hunky ripped gym instructor he sees during workouts, and right in front of everyone, strips naked. He quickly wishes him away. Being a scientist, he wonders if his new ability just works on his sexual fantasies-so as an experiment he conjures up Daffy Duck, Sophia Loren, Billie Holliday, Picasso, and even his younger self.
But!
What happens when you are finally able to get everything you desire?
It a bit of a car crash between Nicholson Baker's The Fermata and a video-age Faust.

BUY BORROW or BURN?
BORROW ( )

Thirty-something scientist, Michael Blasco, is your typical all work/no play type. He is involved in a love affair that's gone well past its sell by date, mostly owing to his neglect, and his current research project involves the sort of animal testing that even he seems a bit squeamish, if not rueful, over. One day, on his way home from the gym, the personal trainer about whom he fantasizes appears to him on the tube platform and performs an ad hoc striptease seemingly as a result of Michael's thoughts. In short order, Michael discovers that he can create a doppelganger of anyone on the planet (living, dead, real or fictional) who must do exactly as he pleases. After the initial shock and disbelief wear off, he warms to the idea and wastes no time in calling up a variety of "doubles," including his boyhood wet-dream, Tarzan (as played by Johnny Weismuller), a Jessica Rabbit-like cartoon character, Lawrence of Arabia, his own American military man Father (on whom he was sexually fixated as a boy), Billie Holliday and, most memorably, a totally manic go-getting Pablo Picasso.

Of course, much like the experiments he performs on helpless animals, his manipulation of these people is not without its ethical ambiguities and complications. Each person reacts differently to his overtures and, despite their obligation to obey him, almost none of them acquiesce happily. Slowly, with each encounter, he begins to learn valuable lessons about consideration, responsibility and relationships. In the end, rather than being corrupted by his newfound powers, he comes out a better, more caring, person.

LUST is a rewarding book on so many levels. It has a lot of humour, partly as a result of the absurdity of its premise but in larger part due to the hilarious, whimsical characterizations which are the book's major strength. Every character, whether based on a real person or a complete fiction, is wonderfully alive and completely unique without ever once stepping over the boundaries into caricature. Increasingly I find fictional characters (particularly those in queer literature) to be bland and difficult to distinguish from one another, with the unfortunate exception being the token outrageous, flamboyant stereotype, but the people in LUST are absolutely 100% believable individuals. Even Picasso, the book's most over-the-top creation, is a total delight. Reading it, I felt as if Ryman really knew these people.

In addition to the humour, the book has a lot of heart and is surprisingly romantic. It examines religion, destiny, self-acceptance, relationships (familial and sexual) and responsibility. It has a protagonist who, while not always likable, is extremely easy to relate to, understand and even sympathize with. In many ways, he is just an average guy in extraordinary circumstances. If you like your queer lit with a dose of fantasy, humour, philosophy and/or romance, LUST has something for you. ( )

The only thing I have to add to tamaranth's review is that for science fiction fans this is a brilliant mix of sf and fantasy. The main character is a scientist who approaches the fantasy elements in this story in a very scientific way. ( )

http://www.amaranth.aviators.net/Crit... ( )