Reed explores his earlier life, including his youth in the Channel Islands, and unashamed androgynous proclivities which lead to various sexual encounters. He probes, too, his own awakening and development as a poet and his strong literary affinities. Reed has been described by David Gascoyne as the most outstanding poet of his generation. He was winner of the Somerset Maugham award in 1984. Entrancing...an electric portrayal of his strange and exciting times."" - Sunday Times.