The Complete Lockpick Pornography

May 21, 2012
Comeau (A Softer World) has a well-deserved reputation for cheerfully deranged work, borne out by this pair of thematically linked stories. "Lockpick Pornography" is superficially about the adventures of gender anarchists determined to undermine heteronormativity and the gender binary one baffled victim at a time. It's held together by the brash, introspective narration of the unnamed protagonist, a gay man frustrated by his inability to find women attractive. Driven by his desperate yearning to be "part of something queer and strong and worthwhile," he drags his drag-wearing friends into an increasingly strange series of illegal exploits. "We All Got It Coming" could star the same man in an alternate universe where he succumbed to societal expectations, settling into monogamy and boring but steady work. When a coworker assaults him for being gay, he starts looking for a new job, depressed by the seeming incompatibility of income and honesty. Darker and sadder, the second story is the stick to the first one's carrot: what we all got coming is crushing mundanity, unless we pick the lock on society's jailhouse door and "gain access to the room beyond." Queers of all stripes will enjoy this grimy, affectionate, endlessly questioning paean to unclassifiability and defiance.