Terry Grimwood's Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature was published by Eibonvale Press.
About Terry Grimwood:
Electrician, teacher, musician (of sorts), actor (ham) and writer, Terry Grimwood has three novels and a handful of novellas to his name including the dark religious fantasy, Skin For Skin, and Joe which is inspired by a true story. He has also written plays, reviews and text books.
About Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature:
Terry Grimwood is an author who has made a name for himself with his very powerful, human and wide-ranging fiction, covering horror, speculative, dystopian and other styles. This mini-collection gathers together some of his more innovative and experimental short fiction from all across that range. The title story is a grotesquely hilarious, absurdist and very British tale of love, intrigue and the exchange of hearts that reads like a post-modern PG Wodehouse fever-dream. It is joined by a collection of miniatures in the form of monologues or dialogues, ranging from a dystopian sales pitch and the political horrors revealed through a farcically unnerving interrogation, to a quiet restaurant meeting where the topic of discussion could hardly be greater or more shattering. Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature is an unusual example of British slipstream writing, a complex and bittersweet confection that deserves to be taken slowly.
REVIEW: AFFAIRS OF A CARDIOVASCULAR NATURE BY TERRY GRIMWOOD
Terry Grimwood's Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature is the 19th chapbook in the Eibonvale Chapbook Line.
I've been a fan of Terry Grimwood for a while now, because I find his stories captivating and thought-provoking. I was thrilled to read this chapbook, because it demonstrates the author's writing skills and imagination, and especially his experimental and thrilling approach to slipstream writing. I consider it to be a marvellous example of innovative and original storytelling.
Before I write more about the stories in this chapbook, I have to mention this:
If you decide to pick up this chapbook, I advise you to read it slowly, because the stories will open up better when you examine them carefully and spend a little time thinking about their contents. It is not meant to be read in haste.
This chapbooks contains the following six stories:
- The Doppelganger's Nemesis
- Beautiful Are the Feet
- Kemistry
- Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature
- Did He Fall, or Was He Pushed?
- War War
These stories are aimed at thinking adults who love stories that differ from the norm and make you think about their contents. Each of the stories is a little slice of literary goodness.
Here's a bit more information about the stories and my thoughts about them:
The Doppelganger's Nemesis:
- A short story about a man and his doppelganger.
- This story touches upon themes of murder, justice and death in an intriguing way.
Beautiful Are the Feet:
- A clever and thought-provoking story in which the author examines modern life and accessories associated with being a modern person from a delightfully skewed perspective.
- I liked this story a lot, because it's something different.
Kemistry:
- A strikingly thought-provoking story about a woman who has come back to England after spending two years with her current husband in Albany. She is arrested and is being told that she must go back to her ex-husband.
- This dystopic story is brilliantly twisted in its depiction of a society in which the law concerning marriage has changed and chemisty is used to determine who is the right person for you.
Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature:
- In this absurd and hilarious story, a man receives a heart which he had given to a woman he loved, because her body rejected it. Soon, his aunt comes for a visit in hopes of arranging a suitable marriage for him.
- This story is the strongest and longest story in this chapbook. It's delightfully clever, mysterious and strange, because it depicts a society in which a person's heart can be given to another as a token of affection and love if they are compatible with each other.
- This story has a touch of twisted humour in the vein of Rhys Hughes.
Did He Fall, or Was He Pushed?:
- An intriguing short story about Jack and Jill, and an incident involving a possible push or a fall from the hill.
- This story is an excellent example of flash fiction that works well. It demonstrates that you can do wonders with a couple of pages when you have a good idea and you know how to tell it.
War War:
- This brilliant short story is a pleasingly satirical vision of arranging a war and how to fix things so that both sides will benefit from the events.
- I find the the structure of this story captivating, because it has been constructed as a conversation between two persons in a restaurant. This kind of structure works perfectly and results in a memorable reading experience.
Terry Grimwood's Affairs of a Cardiovascular Nature is a small dose of excellently written slipstream fiction. If you want to enjoy a compelling and rewarding reading experience, please don't hesitate to read this chapbook, because it'll surprise you with its freshness and clever stories.
Highly recommended!