Michael's review
My Life in Heavy Metal
by Steve Almond
This is easily Steve Almond's best book and one of the best collections of short stories I've read in years. It's honest (which is about as high a compliment as I could possibly give to a book) raw..and really strikes me in its confessionalist tone, especially with regard to sex. It's very difficult to write a sex scene and not only make it sound fresh but not make it sound like this: "he touched her sex, glistening.." you know, a lot of people write about sex like they're reading a Fabio novel. Not Almond. There's an urgency to it, and he's killer with last lines in a story. The title story is fucking brilliant and worth buying the book for. It's told from the point of view of a newspaper reporter in New Mexico who starts an affair with a lifeguard, and the narrator takes equal relish in talking about the joys of chlorinated sex AND the feeling of metal concerts circa 1989ish.
Great book.
Michael's review
My Life in Heavy Metal by Steve Almond
Michael's review
rating:
recommended for: Everyone, especially those who think about music and sex obsessively..
This is easily Steve Almond's best book and one of the best collections of short stories I've read in years. It's honest (which is about as high a compliment as I could possibly give to a book) raw..and really strikes me in its confessionalist tone, especially with regard to sex. It's very difficult to write a sex scene and not only make it sound fresh but not make it sound like this: "he touched her sex, glistening.." you know, a lot of people write about sex like they're reading a Fabio novel. Not Almond. There's an urgency to it, and he's killer with last lines in a story. The title story is fucking brilliant and worth buying the book for. It's told from the point of view of a newspaper reporter in New Mexico who starts an affair with a lifeguard, and the narrator takes equal relish in talking about the joys of chlorinated sex AND the feeling of metal concerts circa 1989ish.
Great book.
