Gents

Three West Indian men take centre stage in this engaging short novel; Reynolds, the long standing boss; Jason, his young Rasta assistant of six years, and new man Ez. As Ez joins the staff at the public convenience complaints about cottaging, (men in twos, threes or more are using the cubicles for their dubious pleasures), threaten to close the public toilet. The three men use their own ingenuity to bring the problem under control, with considerable success. In fact so successful are they that takings drop markedly, and so three men are no longer needed to maintain the toilets, one of them may have to go. Again, they come up with an ingenious solution. The real joy of the book however is the characters. Although Reynolds, whose life revolves around managing the conveniences, appears constantly to jibe Jason, he is in fact very fond of the lad and regards him like a son. While Jason might seem sullen and self absorbed, and as Reynolds often accuses, "bad", events prove him to be principled, proactive and imaginative. Ez, is a gentle, loving and tolerant man. Their mild Jamaican patois is well captured, and their interactions and activities prove quite comic. This is a very gentle story with a message, a touch of irony, likeable characters, plenty of humour and a positive outcome.

Meet Ezekiel Murphy. Needing work, he takes a job working as a toilet attendant at a men's washroom in the London Underground. Working with two other men, Reynolds and Jason, he figures this will be just one more run of the mill job. He is mistaken. One day while cleaning the bathroom, he watches as two men leave a cubicle together. Another time, he watches as someone kneels on the ground while the other man stays standing. Appalled, he asks Reynolds and Jason what is going on. "It's the reptiles." Jason says. Apparently the bathroom in which they work in is a popular spot for "cottaging" or gay sex. Many men cruise the washroom looking to get off. What shocks Ez the most is that these are seemingly normal men. He observes one gentleman he saw in a cubicle with another meet up with his family. "Took your time," the wife observes. He wonders if he should say anything; wonders if it's his place. The three men are dealt a further blow when they are given an ultimatum: cut down on the amount of gay cursing in the washroom or the London council will shut it down. Suddenly, the three men find themselves in between a rock and a hard place having to confront an enemy they know nothing about. They decide to take matters into their own hands. They start to observe the "reptiles" and their habits; they start to fight back. But what are they fighting most? Their own prejudices or the rights of others? Gents may be a small novel but it packs a mean wallop. Clocking in at only 172 pages, many would under estimate the power of this slim volume. They would be unwise to do so. Gents take an in your face look at many issues that other writers would cheerfully avoid: homosexuality, washroom sex, cruising, races, culture, prejudice and racism. Gents has so much power because it looks at all these issues and more in such brutal, unashamed honesty. You never feel for an instant that you are reading something that should be shocking or scandalous; though, looked at separately, many of the books subjects do indeed cause scandal. Collins has also created some of the most likeable, wonderful characters I've ever encountered in literature today: Ezekiel, a West Indian immigrant worried about providing for his wife and son. Jason, the Rastafarian who has two wives. Reynolds, their supervisor, who tries to remain distant from their situation but can't help getting drawn in. These people breathe. I don't think I can say it clearer than that; they are people I know, people I talk to every day. They are real and honest and true people. It takes a talented writer to create characters with such finesse; characters that I feel I've known for years. It takes not only a writer but a magician to create with such simplicity. Gents is written in simple, precise words. You won't find any purple prose here; because of the writing style, the issue is right there, out in the open, waiting for you to acknowledge it. Though the language is simple, the words have power. The book

This is the wittiest and most humane novel I've read in the last 20 years; certainly the best one about West Indians working in a public toilet in London. It would make a fantastic film -- lots of it is in dialogue and the argument is beautifully made, subtly and implicitly, by the plot. It's like an Ealing comedy only with a reggae soundtrack, and lots of cottaging in the background.

Gents is a wonderful book. Its cover feels sooo nice. It makes me want to touch it all day with my hands, my feet and I like to rub it on my face. The story evolves around the lives of three public lavatory workers. Every day they are being confronted with so called "cottagers", mainly male business type men, who engage in casual sex. Being pressured by the public lavatory's management council the workers install a fake security camera in order to decrease the amount of misuse of the lavatories. This leads to further complications with the management council due to the sudden decrease of overall customers and overall income. Confronted with a possible bankruptcy, the workers have to find a solution to this issue...Will they make it? Find out yourself! Albert and Adrian

The books topic is the behaviour between blacks and whites and their prejudices. The setting is a lavatory where 3 employees try to do something against cottaging. The three employees are blacks and those who are doing cottaging (called reptiles in the novel) are mostly white. Most of the time the employees talk about the reptiles and think about why they became so.Often in a prejudiced way but also in a human way. The problem is portrait in a funny but also serious way. First you may think that the book is about nothing and it doesn't has a headline. But after you finished the book which is very easy to read, you have to think about it and it is nice to analyse it. And thats why I liked it very much.