This is a strange book. Although clearly within the 'erotic literature' genre characteristic of the Olympia Press imprint, it hardly fits any of the styles that are usually adopted. It seems to have pretensions to the broader concept of literature, in aiming to tell a story, but it does so in a very awkward manner, with a host of fragmentary plots and sub-plots that arise and fade, giving little more than a multitude of characters who are less than memorable. The supposed libertine, Arwel, barely justifies this title, avoiding erotic engagements as much as encouraging them; women do seem to throw their bodies at him, but this is hardly the same. The overall scenario involves much name-dropping in a variety of fields of the arts, including opera, in which our hero excels, somewhat improbably, giving amazing performances in roles from bass all the way up to tenor. He even ends up being given the opera company when its founder becomes terminally ill. The complex to-ings and fro-ings allowed in all this allow ample opportunity for steamy encounters, and orgiastic entanglements abound. Whether these moments offer sufficient compensation for the lengthy passages of meandering plot is largely a matter of taste. ( )