''Loaded'' is the first novel by Australian writer
Christos Tsiolkas
Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...
.
It was first published in 1995,
and was adapted into the 1998 film ''
Head On''. ''Loaded'' was adapted as an
audio play
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
by the
Malthouse Theatre company in 2020.
Plot
The novel describes twenty-four hours in the life of "Ari", an angst-ridden young
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
Greek Australian
Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...
.
Ari travels across the city of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia, taking
speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (ma ...
,
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
and smoking
marijuana whenever presented to him.
He is uncomfortable with his homosexuality, favours
no strings attached hook-ups with anonymous, masculine suitors who debase or demean their own homosexuality, and is regularly at odds with friends as well as family.
Publication
When Tsiolkas submitted the manuscript of ''Loaded'' to an independent publisher, it was rejected as "racist and homophobic".
References
1995 Australian novels
1990s LGBT novels
Novels by Christos Tsiolkas
Novels with gay themes
Australian LGBT novels
Novels set in Melbourne
1995 debut novels
{{1990s-LGBT-novel-stub