Penelope Pan

Where Peter Pan was meant to appeal to youngsters, Penelope Pan is meant to escort adults into a fantastical arena in which sex, politics and terrorism collide.

The book is also a testament to how a young woman of breathtaking beauty and limitless optimism can lure to the surface the “little boy living inside the disillusioned man” and help restore his creativity.

Penelope focuses her attentions on Zackary Lancelot Amadeus Bartholomew, an unhappily married, perpetually blocked novelist, who is whisked up to Netherland to undergo Penelope’s Creativity Challenge. Mozart, Zack’s half-blind do, is accidentally transported as well.

But Zack and Mozart cannot fathom their surroundings, an enchanted landscape replete with blue willows, purple grass and mischievous fairies, including Penelope’s gay sidekick, Ralph, a tiny guy who dispenses Plum Blossom Dust (PBD), a substance guaranteed to improve one’s outlook and burn carbs. Netherland is also the home of a murderous pirate, Simon Hook, who is legendary for stripping men of their testicles. Central to the story is Hook’s Blood Sun Extravaganza, an Olympics of Erotica that features the Deflowering of the Vestal Virgins; The Bestiality Boys and Girls, and the Gay Porn Lilies.

Unaware of the more dangerous aspects of his new environment, Zack falls hopelessly in love with Penelope, a golden-haired goddess who seduces him at a fancy dress ball. But peril awaits all four, including Mozart and Ralph, when Zack and Penelope are taken hostage by Simon Hook and exposed to everything from The Sadists to seeing Zack's beloved dog pitted against vicious Pit Bulls.

What does it all lead up to? The possible resurrection of a writer who holds the key to his own creative powers, as well as to his freedom, by teaming up with his magical muse, a young woman who must choose between eternal youth and true love.