Savory, Bitter and Sweet

One of the most important features of this small masterpiece is the attitude shift Percy forces us to takes together with Ian whose POV we follow. While we all abhor the bigotry of homophobic people, I’m sure plenty of us may have to own up to at least occasional hints of the disdain Ian displays for what he describes as ‘those fey, flamboyantly gay, almost girlish men.’ In fact, one of the pivotal sentences in the story may be ‘Ian had hated knowing that not only was he gay, he was gay for those mincing, femme males.’

The encounters Ian has with Curtis gradually make him (and us) view Curtis in a new light, and engenders respect for him due to his competence and poise. My favorite scene is probably the food flirt – which is not what you might think.  I also love the descriptions of the clothes Curtis wears and his general looks, as seen through the rather disapproving eyes of Ian. In fact my only complaint about the story is the same thing I feel about a small box of exquisite chocolate: it finished too soon and I crave more.

This review is a shorter version of a Featured Story blog review.