The Isle of Dogs

December 1, 2008
There are more surveillance cameras per capita in the United Kingdom than in any other country. And what do its citizens engage in during their rare off-camera moments? In Davies novel, at least, the answer is public sexand lots of it. Jeremy Shepherd has left his job as the editor of a glossy London lad mag and reinvented himself as a small-town civil servant, lodging in a spare roomin his parents home. Living a Spartan existence and embracing what he calls post-ambition, he rebuilds his life around his desire for lots of sex with lots of partners, usually in cars in parking lots (dogging). A smart, philosophy-spouting protagonist who indulges in what many consider deviant sex betrays the influence of J. G. Ballard, more so when you consider the theme of a mans primal behavior testing the bars of civilizations glittering cage. The sex scenes are arousing (if you like that sort of thing), but the push-pull between the protagonists cool intellect and heated libido combines for a genuinely thought-provoking work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)