Faraday (a pseudonym) has traveled to over 150 countries throughout his career, and he’s collected a wide array of lovers in each one. In often explicit detail, he recounts his adventures with (to pick two examples) a self-confessed Romanian criminal and an international porn star from Azerbaijan in this work, describing how he’s navigated both sexual encounters and complex identity politics in different international settings. As he outlines in the preface, Faraday believes the language barrier is an asset to romantic relationships. He takes his cue from his Parisian doctor, who’d argued that not speaking the same language imbues tryst participants with a mystique that keeps them from falling into the banalities of everyday life. Faraday engages readers not only with his many sexual exploits, but also his consideration of international political realities and their effects on everyday life. In Afghanistan, he met a woman who’d been sold into slavery to escape prison, while he faced tear gas and water cannons alongside protesters in Istanbul; he also narrowly escaped a Ugandan coup. He describes the sexual politics throughout his travels, depicting vibrant LGBTQ+ communities even in the face of harsh discrimination, from the Afghan bacha bazi, or boy play, to a sexual encounter in Johannesburg’s Zoo Lake. Throughout, Faraday maintains an unflinching honesty about his experiences, refusing to sanitize anything for a general audience. His uninhibited approach makes for a provocative read, and his straightforward, conversational prose keeps the sprawling collection of encounters readable, while also giving his recollections an engaging immediacy. Faraday’s journalistic eye ably captures the political tensions and everyday realities of the places he visits, resulting in an unconventional memoir that thoughtfully explores the intersection of sex, culture, and identity.