By Warwick Collins
With a title like this, many readers wouldn't even pick this book off the shelf. However, it's surprisingly endearing even to somebody like me who has no penchant for such apparent amoral action!
The plot centres on Ez Murphy, a man with stout religious views and a reliable wife. Ez lands a new job as an attendant/cleaner in an inner-city 'Gents'. Here he is affronted by the illicit rendez-vous that the 'reptiles' indulge in. The cubicle-sharing is not due to lack of facilities... Ez is forced to address his presumptuous abhorrence at this white man's sin when he sees a black man, just like him, emerging from a cubicle behind a suited businessman. We follow Ez's emotions, in the unusual setting of a (pristine!) public convenience, as he wrestles with the moral and religious conundrum which he encounters almost daily.
'Gents' is a short book and Collins' style is readable. It is neither pretentious nor patronising. We soon feel readily acquainted with Ez and able to empathise with his disconcerted state. Collins ensures that the reader is ensnared by creating characters with whom we sympathise. This does, of course, impact on the plot.
The pace is patchy. Little actually happens in 'Gents' other than brief encounters (of the dirty kind) and an unforeseen dinner party with Ez, his wife and Ez's colleagues. This is all well and good in rich works of art so exemplified by Katherine Mansfield (if you haven't heard of her then shame on you...she was an early 20th century trend-setter!). Here, however, we're left feeling slightly unaffected. The characters are believable and the situation that Ez finds himself is identifiable. However, the prose lacks in emotional depth and subtle dexterity to inspire every reader that opens its covers.
VERDICT: A quick read that may leave you with a quirky sense of satisfaction, marred by an aftertaste of apathy.
YOU'LL LIKE THIS IF YOU LIKE: The stylistic simplicity of 'The Alchemist' (Paulo Coelho) or straightforward attempt at portraying moral dilemmas found in the works of Jodi Picoult. And, of course, if you like reading about 'cottaging'...although don't expect the gory details!
