My Life in Heavy Metal Stories Author:Steve Almond Steve Almond's collection My Life in Heavy Metal features twelve powerful stories that take a clear-eyed view of relationships between young men and women who have come of age in an era without innocence. In the title story, an El Paso newspaper clerk assigned to review the heavy metal bands that play the local arenas is drawn in by the primal m... more »usic, which fuels a torrid affair with a Chicana woman that will change him forever. In "Geek Player, Love Slayer," a thirty-three-year-old woman harbors a secret, desperate crush on the young computer repairman in her office -- until her ardor is unleashed at an after-work party, with unexpected consequences. In "Valentino," two teenagers spending their last summer together before heading off to college experience a sexual awakening inspired by the legend of a long-dead movie star. By turns tender and raw, visceral and otherworldly, the stories of My Life in Heavy Metal capture the moments when the fires of passion burn over and subside into embers of pain and longing. It is a dazzling debut by an exciting and vibrant new voice in American fiction. "A brilliant, sexy debut." -- Stewart O'Nan "I read these wonderful stories with awe, envy, and delight. Almond is a writer to watch." -- Rick DeMarinis "These stories are tender, funny, and magnetic.... Here's an exciting voice that's bound to make some noise." -- Ernesto Quinonez« less