The Search for Sebastian

This first novel, written by two pseudonymous authors, is ruined by a meandering, inconclusive plot, endless repetition and foul language. It's the tale of a couple of ``loveable old queers'' from 'Frisco who wander through Italy getting ideas for a bestseller about food and are pursued by friends and foes. Among those tailing them are a twisted transsexual Pentecostal preacher named Bobbette and members of the CIA and an organization known as ``Abu Terror.'' Readers' senses are assaulted by a host of offenses: sadomasochism, insults to heterosexuals, tasteless religious jokes, racist and anti-Semitic slurs. A black American nun is described as having ``huge teeth and cornrowed hair.'' A black doctor called Booker T. Rubenstein is ``mistakenly'' invited to the ``Young Zionist Scientists and Intellectuals Congress'' in Israel. There he learns that the welcoming committee was ``relieved to find out he wasn't a Black Jew'' and ``wished he hadn't come.'' He is avenged when he falls in love with an atheist who is the granddaughter of a ``leading Jewish creche maker.'' (Dec.)