In Thom Nickels's Spore, Dennis begins a quest to find out who he is, why he does what he does, and how to understand it all after his wife leaves him during their honeymoon. Thus, he begins his journey, while engaging in sexual encounters in all kinds of strange situations.
Dennis’s mission is to offer proof to the world that homosexuality and bisexuality are every bit a part of “The Big Plan” as is heterosexuality. He begins his activist campaign as a “street preacher,” but in so doing, he stirs up reactionary forces that want him dead. Dennis's dire warnings shake up the status quo. One warning is that people who do not act on their latent bisexual or gay desires will develop diseases cause by a Spore and that religions that condemn same-sex love will not inherit the new kingdom.
Will his predictions prove right? Will he be condemned? And, what about the spores? Spore by Thom Nickels is truly a thought-provoking novel that will leave you wondering!
Review
In Thom Nickels's new book Spore, the blurbs on the front and back of this book would lead the reader to believe that it is an intense socio-biological sci-fi novel that will “…turn everything you believe about sexuality on its head.” The synopsis on the back indicates that the main character, Dennis, is about to discover a “spore” that is spread worldwide but only causes diseases when the carrier human fails “…to act on their latent gay or bisexual desires.”
The actual novel does nothing of the sort. Dennis, the main character, marries a woman in the first chapter and they spend their honeymoon in Hawaii with an old lover of Dennis’. Mrs. Dennis (after 3 days) figures out what they are up to sexually and hits the road. Dennis is then free to explore his rampant bisexuality (which seems to only involve other men). His Hawaiian host and ex-lover, Ken, puzzled by Dennis’ choice of a mate, takes him to a very spiritual spot deep in the forest that is rumored to cause great sexual awakenings in people. This spot is called “The Toilet”. (honest)
While enjoying the waters at The Toilet, Dennis is sucked beneath the waters where he encounters the Sex God “The Big Kahuna”. (I really, really wish I were making this up). The Big Kahuna endows our hero with the supernatural powers of being able to detect, through a scent in his skin, whether or not another man is gay. Apparently, approximately 90% of the men Dennis encounters, both before and after his transformation in The Toilet, are open to his advances.
The spore referred to in the title of the book is actually never explained; other than it causes all people to…….grow stalks of broccoli out of their asses. Not broccoli-like growths; actually broccoli. The disease was actually called Broccoli Spore Syndrome, or BSS. Returning to the mainland, Dennis realizes that he also is growing vegetables out of his ass and many people come to believe that HE is actually the person responsible for spreading this virus.
There are some confusing, veiled comparisons to AIDS and the spread of that virus; but beyond those points it almost feels like the author wrote without any kind of outline or plot development guide. The beginning has nothing to do with the end; characters are drawn, interact, and then vanish from the narrative. Our Hawaiian friend Ken (who is surmised to be the originator of the Broccoli Spore Syndrome) is simply run over by a bus.
There is no wrap-up or summation to this book. People simply go and have the Broccoli Spears cut out of their ass, and life goes on. The end. This author has written scores of novels, essays, weekly columns, etc. He obviously knows how to write; so the never-ending missteps and plot contortions, not to mention the ridiculousness of broccoli out the ass, makes one wonder exactly what happened that made this book the jaw-dropping disaster that it is.
