In this subtly surreal and metaphorically deep tale of sex, identity, discovery and isolation, our adventurist hustler is the queer Everyman. Flowing, Chameleonic, from one encounter to the next, the handsome traveller is anything to anyone, finding his niche in everyone's cracks. His looks are the skeleton key to any door, his adaptability and relaxed air of authenticity a weaponised tool of disarmament. His ability to connect and expose a John's core needs are the ultimate instruments of compulsion with which he seals each deal. Fluidity is his craft, and his engaged, candid willingness to fill every desirous hole, be it emotional or physical, is the ultimate tool of his trade, satisfaction guaranteed. But the intimacy is illusory, and the deep, knowing connection merely artifice. What lives on the inside is hidden, even from himself. Crossing that boundary is the ultimate taboo, yet paradoxically the path to true elation, maybe even salvation.
Review of Strapped
