Metrophilias
Metrophilias isn’t actually a novel but a collection of short stories alphabetically arranged by title – each one labeled by the name of the city in which it is set. Many of the short stories are reprints from various experimental fiction magazines, and most are only a couple hundred words long. Only a few have any connection with history; some are more a list of descriptive words than prose. All are edgy if not outright shocking.
In “Moscow,” an unnamed man is being interrogated by an unnamed police officer – at least, one assumes that’s who he is – and refuses to admit he killed his friend, who was found hanging from a meat hook in his apartment. However, he does casually inform the officer that he ate his buddy, piece by piece. In “Florence,” we do get a taste of the past, observing beautiful frescoes by Filippino Lippi in Florence, Italy, through the eyes of the heroine. Geronima mourns the loss of her lover, who died in a duel. She soothes herself by sexually exciting herself with an ancient cross that she periodically takes down from her wall for this purpose. And in ancient “Thebes,” the King of Egypt is aroused by inordinately large noses.
To say these stories are quirky wouldn’t do them justice. They are weird, sometimes darkly humorous, wild, sexual, and unpredictable. This is neither a book for the weak of heart, nor for readers with sensitive stomachs. But if you like the ingredients mentioned above tossed into a salad of a few hundred words – it may be just right for you.
