Gay & Lesbian Review loves Troubled

Toronto writer RM Vaughan's new book is a welcome respite from the recent spate of memoirs that have deluged bookstores. In twisted, arduous detail, Vaughan takes us through his own journey, that of bewildered patient ultimately drawn into a sexual relationship with his therapist. Vaughan's pain can be felt in almost every line of this beautifully rendered story, all told in the form of a 'poetic memoir,' primarily in verse.

Vaughan is acutely aware that patients in therapy often have feelings of infatuation for their counselors. He lets us in on the secret, but sentiments shift rapidly from love to lust to hate and back again; at one point Vaughan begrudges the doctor for 'his moneyed hands on my ass.' Amid the carefully chronicled pain are welcome injections of humour, including a list of Harlequin Romance titles and porn movie titles that contain the word 'doctor.' Included verbatim are the actual letters exchanged between Vaughan and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario regarding his official complaints about the doctor, reminding us that this is no work of fiction. In the era of Dr. Phil, there's something richly rewarding about Vaughan's acid pen getting some kind of revenge on 'Dr. M.' Vaughan's book also reveals that the College reinstated the good doctor several years after suspending his license.

'Every system protects its earners,' Vaughan concludes with typical bitterness, 'and math is immoral.' It's a brilliant closing to a devastating book.