ManBug

Though this slim and confounding first novel from Canadian author Ilsley (after the collection Random Acts of Hatred) could be called a love story, it might more accurately be classified, considering its academic tone and scarcity of plot, as a case study, a detached observation of two men in love. The subjects are Sebastian, an unemployed entomologist with Asperger's Sydrome, and Tom, a bisexual into New Age spirituality. Composed of bite-size fragments, the book places the two men and their unlikely relationship under the microscope, largely eschewing conventions such as scenes, dialogue and plot, a daring but failed experiment with digressive meditations on the world of insects, the way to awareness and male sexuality. Ilsley delivers the odd, compelling tangent (e.g. Sebastian's fascination with bugs occasions a deliciously creepy description of lard worms), and strikes humorous notes poking fun at the New Age movement or discussing Sebastian's attraction to men's armpits (""hidden bonsai gardens""). But while clearly the product of a unique and active intellect, the book lacks direction and narrative pull.