Duncan is an award winning young Queensland writer, whose Sushi Central (2003) revealed a dark mind at work. His first novel centred on Calvin, a seventeen year middle class gay teenager, and his world of fashion, sex, drugs, and alarmingly, involvement in online gay porn. Calvin is estranged from his family, and lost his younger brother to something undisclosed but traumatic. His parents are oblivious to his sexual orientation, but he's out to everyone else. He meets Anthony, an online porn 'star' and becomes attracted to the latter's casual attitude and vacancy. It's every parent's worst nightmare, straight, lesbian or gay, and Duncan evokes Calvin's relationships and lack of community grounding quite well. Duncan's style reminds me of another Queensland writer, Andrew MacGahan, who is also an excellent author of Queensland noir novels. Think California, think trying desperately to forget the corrupt immediate past of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, think night-time social activity outside tropical daytime. That's Duncan's Brisbane, more or less. If his work can be classified as Queensland noir, though, he could devote some more space to Brisbane's darker corners and landscape. Granted, Queensland isn't a countrified right-wing wasteland anymore, but is rootless metropolitan nihilism any better? There are also echoes of Dennis Cooper and Brett Easton Ellis (American Psycho, 1990) in the lifestyles of Duncan's characters, albeit without the distressing violence of the latter. As noted above, Metro was launched in Brisbane earlier this month. It deals with Liam, an affluent middle-class metrosexual closet case. If you ever suspected that straight metrosexuality was probably a nicer form of closet, then read on. Duncan's take on metrosexuality is that better male fashion, emotional expression toward women, culinary skills and hair and body care are virtually identical to ours for a reason. In blurring the boundaries, closeted gay men can have their Armani and eat men as well, that is, unless one's alibi girlfriend gets confused about time and places. And then... Ah, but that would be telling. Suffice to end with a question. We have our own Peter Wells to love and cherish, but where are his younger literary counterparts? And why does Australia have so many of them? Essential: Alisdair Duncan: Sushi Central: St Lucia: University of Queensland Press: 2003 Alisdair Duncan: Metro: St Lucia: University of Queensland Press: 2006. Craig Young - 26th September 2006