Philips' writing is smart, hot, and very, very funny. No one escapes his righteous wrath: circuit queens, leather daddies, transgender warriors, televangelists, skater punks, pomo-homo academics--even the Devil himself. They're all here, in glorious technocolor (and in various states of undress).

_See Dick Deconstruct_ fills a much-neglected literary niche--one-handed reading for the hopelessly erudite. This is writing that takes seriously the idea that the brain is the largest sex organ. But even if you don't get hot and bothered over French lit crit or Latin love poetry, you will get caught up in the sheer force of Philips' prose, his marvelously developed characters, and his wicked sense of humor. Not to mention the copious raunchy sex.

What's more, Philips is not afraid of four-letter words, like L-O-V-E. Hidden among the satiric barbs is some genuine romance, a tender sweetness that reminds us that piggy sex is grand, but piggy sex with someone you love is, well, what most of us are looking for, gay or straight.

If this what Philips is offering as a debut, what can we expect in 5 or 10 years? Gay literati, look out: there's a new luminary in your midst and he is taking notes.