The Gad; or, Prolegomena to a double bill

Abstract

In this work of creative non-fiction, a search for copies of The Conformist (1970) and I Went Down (1997) in the video stores of downtown Toronto becomes the occasion for a philosophical discussion of the relevance of Plato's Republic for understanding the relation of erotics and politics in the modern world when the author has a chance encounter with an old acquaintance who teaches political theory at the University of Toronto. The evening's events are recounted in a semi-autobiographical email to his distant wife the next day. - The Editor