My Life in Heavy Metal

First edition

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]

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, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/23/featuresreviews.guardianreview11
2. Ann M. Bauer, "My Life in Heavy Metal" (Review), City Pages, Apr 17 2002, "Steve Almond: My Life in Heavy Metal - Page 1 - Books - Minneapolis - City Pages". Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
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.

External links

• Publisher Grove Atlantic's page