Here’s a quick summary of Scott’s life: he thinks he’s in love with a McDonald’s clerk; he is estranged from his dysfunctional family; he lives in a decrepit flat by himself; his body is riddled with self-inflicted wounds in various stages of heeling; he watches too much television; he has a passing interest in the NATO bombing of Serbia; and he subsists on money earned first as an in-the- bushes-at-a-city-park rent boy and then playing submissive roles in often violent, gay porn web videos.

Around Scott, Bahlaj has assembled a cast of truly miscreant characters, principally: Mike, Scott’s pimp; Gerard, an unconscionable bottom-feeder, maker of the movies and host of the website; Rachel, the slightly slutty McDonalds girl; Shirley, Mike’s damaged girlfriend; and Lee, Shirley’s unfortunate son.

In Tilt, Scott maunders in a druggie malaise, submitting to acts of sexual brutality just for the coin. The nihilism runneth over.

Gerard starts to fuck me again, his hand wrapped around my face, his thumb in my mouth, and the tip of his index finger pushing into my closed right eye, then his fingers in my mouth raking the inside, then his other hand gripping my hair and pulling hard, snapping my neck back. I try to fight him and move away and he slips out, then I feel the fist connecting with the back of my head and forcing me further down, the belt tightening.

The predatory sex is reminiscent of Dennis Cooper. The at-times detached narrative peppered with pop music references hints at Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho. But Bahlaj has a clear, powerful voice all his own and mimics no one when he overturns the rock in his dreary home town in Fife and shows readers all the vile creatures that squirm there.

Tilt is disturbing and depraved. But Tilt is a morality tale screaming to be freed from the clutches of its immoral captors – as witnessed by its conclusion. This is bold, dangerous fiction seldom encountered any more.

Matthew Firth was born and raised in Hamilton and currently lives in Ottawa. He writes prose exclusively and has published two chapbooks through his own imprint, Black Bile Press. In 1997 Rush Hour Revisions published a collection of short stories entitled ‘Fresh Meat.’ In addition to writing fiction, Matthew co-authored one book of non-fiction called ‘Workplace Roulette’ (Between the Lines, 1997) which sold over 5000 copies. He is also an editor. From 94-97 he edited the litzine Black Cat 115. He is currently co-editor of Front&Centre, a fiction/review magazine. His short story collection (which includes this story,) ‘Can You Take Me There, Now?’ was published by Boheme Press and in 2002 he edited ‘Grunt & Groan’ (Boheme Press, October 2002) which featured sixteen previously unpublished short stories about work and sex.

© 2004 Laura Hird All rights reserved.