My Life in Heavy Metal

My Life in Heavy Metal is a short story collection by Steve Almond published in 2002 by Grove Press. The bulk of the stories are about young men, in their twenties exploring their lives.[1]

First edition

Stories
  1. My Life in Heavy Metal - the sexual exploits of a rock critic who attends a Metallica concert at which "the bassist introduces himself by farting into his microphone"[2]
  2. Among the Ik - a widowed anthropology professor remembers a dead student[2]
  3. Geek Player, Love Slayer
  4. The Last Single Days of Don Victor Potapenko - the comical adventures of an aging lothario[3]
  5. Run Away, My Pale Love
  6. The Law of Sugar
  7. The Pass
  8. Moscow
  9. Valentino - Iowa teenage boys talk about beauty and love[2]
  10. How to Love a Republican
  11. Pornography
  12. The Body in Extremis

Critical response

The Guardian found a mix of "hip social satire" and sentiment, calling it "perverse, poetic, odd".[1] Ann Bauer was less pleased with its uneven combination of "sappy poetry" and "bold narrative prose".[2] Patrick Sullivan found an "easy authenticity" in the tales.[3]

Previous publications

The stories were previously published separately in the following magazines:[4]

  • My Life in Heavy Metal, and How to Love a Republican, were published in Playboy.
  • Among the Ik, was published in Zoetrope: All Story.
  • Greek Player, Love Slayer, was published in the Missouri Review.
  • The Last Single Days of Don Victor Potapenko, was published in Another Chicago Magazine.
  • Run Away, My Pale Love, was published in Ploughshares.
  • The Law of Sugar, was published in The Denver Quarterly.
  • The Pass, was published in the New England Review.
  • Moscow, was published in the North American Review.
  • Valentino, was published in Other Voices.
  • Pornography, was published in Boulevard.
  • The Body in Extremis, was published in the Anthology the Ex-Files.

References
  1. King, D., "The Geek's Revenge", The Guardian, November 23, 2002, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/nov/23/featuresreviews.guardianreview11
  2. Ann M. Bauer, "My Life in Heavy Metal" (Review), City Pages, Apr 17 2002, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2012-04-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Patrick Sullivan, "Review", City Paper (Baltimore), 6/11/2003, http://www2.citypaper.com/arts/review.asp?rid=5289
  4. Almond, S. (2002). "My Life in Heavy Metal", New York: Grove Press.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.