Sterling is assaulted for no other reason than the perception of his being queer and after defending himself is then charged by the people for doing so. Anchored in this concrete happening, the world diverges for Sterling, however, as the absurdity of the situation and the “rules” imposed by society are exposed for the nonsense and pure, single-serving cruelty they are.

Rather than a fist fight, it’s a bull fight—Sterling the bull. Gouged at and assailed ritualistically like all queer and black men. The veneer of the spectacle being all that’s needed for people who want to murder to get away with it. Instead, the absurdity splashed with surrealism steeped in queer readings of key historical art and presentations because the method with which to circumnavigate systemic racism and violence.

What actually “happens” stops becoming grounded in the concrete details juxtaposed with absurd elements and transitions into metaphorical and allegorical Justice and alternate perceptions.

And here’s the thing: it’s also really, really funny too, somehow. Eschewing the moments of societal gravitas and inserting nonchalance makes for some wildly comical granular humour even as the satirical meta elements do their work throughout. I think it was far more clever when it was projecting this different reality into what was unfolding, staying with concrete details, than when it veers into more wild territory. Yet… it’s also able to communicate larger elements more effectively as the queer interpretation becomes unfollowable (at least for me).

At what what point do we know the “real” outcome, and does that actually matter? Are both things true? To Sterling, the interiority is a necessary life preserver that allows for a modicum of (inventive) agency constantly and consistently denied. It reclaims so much. I think knowing what was rooted in the physical for the other characters—who do not have the full benefit of Sterlings queer world—would have made this a more impactful story. But I also freely admit that in the last couple chapters the fiction may have been rooted in both UK history and the queer readings (listed in the back of the book) that I simply did not fully understand it.

Either way, I had a hell of a time and can see myself reading this again.