Il libro di Talsma racconta la storia di Thomas Schwartz, alter ego di Madame Titania, che si trasferisce nella New Orleans degli anni '50 alla ricerca dell'uomo perfetto, sintetizzato nella "Gaudy Image". Attraverso i bar, i club e le stradine secondarie della città, si segue la vita di svariati personaggi. Talvolta il romanzo sembra un po' confuso, a tratti non è semplice seguire la storia. Ma da subito, si ha uno spaccato molto articolato di come era la vita gay in quegli anni. Tanti personaggi che si chiamano usando aggettivi e pronomi femminili, un mondo dove le vere identità non contano, sostituito da soprannomi. In cui la polizia sembra tollerare. E in cui comunque il mondo Gay (e in parte lesbico) sembra organizzato in precise caste, ognuna col suo ruolo. Eppure, il desiderio di amare di molte delle figure del romanzo (Tit in testa), racconta già di un desiderio di normalità che tarderà ad arrivare. ( )

Titania (a.k.a. Thomas Schwartz) moves to New Orleans hoping to find his dream man: the Gaudy Image. He's an idealized sort, with dark, curly hair, very masculine, well-built and still likes to put out. The image is also a remembrance of Robert, the first boy with whom he had any kind of physical relationship. Through the bars, clubs and backstreets of 1950's New Orleans, we follow Titania on his quest, meeting friends and acquaintances, until he finally meets Pelvis, whom he hopes to be the one.
At the beginning of the novel, it's a bit confusing as to what is going on: who's the main character, what's the story about, etc. However, once things are clearly established, the story of a gay man searching for his idealized match snares you and keeps you hooked through the very end. The characters are wonderfully drawn and really give you a glimpse into the homosexual hierarchy of the times, with everyone calling each other she, stereotyping members of their own community (Pelvis is considered Old Pelvis; Sir Denis is fat (and proud of it) which, in the book, makes him less desirable; Burnished Rose is a Queen well beyond her reign) like a caste system, accepting nothing but the idealized image of the perfect man. I found it interesting that none of the charactes uses his real name, instead choosing or being given an identity and, in effect, creating their own world in which to live. ( )