The Lurid Sea

Cardamone (Night Sweats) indulges himself terrifically in this mythology-themed pornographic paean to the art of fellatio. It features only minimal plot, but his delightfully florid descriptions of variations of the male body, and his ability to communicate simultaneous degradation and exultant joy in the act of submission, make this a fascinating if repetitive work. The godling Nerites is cursed by his father, Neptune, to wander among bathhouses across history and across the globe, in such places as Japan, New York, and his native ancient Rome. He services human men with his mouth, employing skills he learned as a youth through curious exploration and via dominant abuse by his cruel half-brother, Obsidio, son of Pluto. Cardamone breaks the dreamy timelessness late in the narrative with a crude allegory to the AIDS crisis in which Obsidio follows Nerites, killing everyone in his regular haunts with deadly ebony sperm. This abrupt, emotionally unrewarding turn reroots the story in the real world, to its detriment as raunchy entertainment. (Mar.)