Guilty

Ian C. Nelson is assistant director of libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan, and président de la Troupe du Jour, Regina Summer Stage.

Readers of this first novel by Sky Gilbert, drag queen extraordinaire
and the founder of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, should be prepared not
only for gay sex, but for glimpses into the world of S & M and the
un-niceties of scat (not the jazz kind). If you are willing to accompany
Gilbert’s first-person narrator, the journey is well worth it.
Ostensibly not a novel but rather an exploration of guilt, Guilty is
easy-flowing and chatty as the narrator keeps questioning the veracity
of his convoluted memory and worrisome tale. There may be rough sex, but
there are no rough edges to his conversational, confessional style. Full
of ironic observations and asides, the narrator sounds rather like a
breathless, gay Holden Caulfield—thoroughly likable and beguiling.
Gilbert has an enchanting way with words, and his novel can be enjoyed
simply for the sheer entertainment value.