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''You wanna be big? Live in the kingdom of the huge? Then you gotta make some changes. It's a commitment. A lifelong process.Not for the weak.You wanna play? You gotta pay. Simple.''
''You just told me you lost your job.''
I have fond memories of the first times I watched shows such as TWILIGHT ZONE or THE X FILES. Content that could cause me any anxiety was banned around the house, so it became somewhat of a forbidden fruit for me. My favorite episodes were those I was too young to really understand. The threat was right there, in front of my eyes and it somehow eluded me. That, for my young self, was pure terror. When the unknown remained the unknown even after revealing itself. Glenn Gray's collection THE LITTLE BOY INSIDE AND OTHER STORIES proved to be a pleasant throwback to these blessed years of ignorant terror and even more.
To truly appreciate THE LITTLE BOY INSIDE AND OTHER STORIES, you had to know one fact: Glenn Gray is a physician, a radiologist and he really likes his job. So his stories can be separated in two categories : steroids and medical terrors. My favorite story was BIGOREXIA, which pokes fun at bodybuilding and yet discusses several issues competitive, steroid-taking bodybuilders are facing, from Hallmark, meaningless motivational advice, to actual bigorexia. Another good steroid story was VENICE BEACH BIRTHDAY BOOGIE. While keeping a graceful sense of humor about the bodybuilding universe, Gray is able to expose it as a complex, layered issue, therefore shows an unlikely tenderness towards a group of people almost exclusively regarded as narcissistic freaks. I like that sort of thing.
...and then there are the medical terrors. To read these stories you need 1) a strong stomach and 2) a strong mind, because it would be easy get paranoid, given the astonishing level of details Glenn Gray puts in those. The protagonists are almost all physician themselves *, are put in a position of vulnerability towards their loved ones due to the mysterious, terrifying disease and often see their lives crumble before their eyes, powerless. So the unexplained medical phenomenons often have an allegoric value, the most evident being the title story THE LITTLE BOY INSIDE, where the physician-protagonists actually coughs up a boy ** !. In Glenn Gray's fiction, a disease is not just a disease, it is a reaction to the life you've been living.
Steve pushed hard, strained, but the bowel movement wouldn't come. He made sure not to hold his breath, didn't want to valsalva and have a heart attack right on the bowl. What a memorable way to be found dead, curled on the bathroom tile, pants around your ankles, feces crusted on your ass.
So pick your poison: a fungus that binds you to your bed, a rare strand of exotic fish destroying your pee pee hole, disintegration (I shit you not) and many more unexplained medical phenomenon to keep you awake at night. Think about the craziest, most improbable disease and it's probably in THE LITTLE BOY INSIDE AND OTHER STORIES. Would the collection qualifiy as body horror? Maybe. Would it qualify as medical suspense? Yes and it's a lot more anxiety-inducing than whatever's on the market right now. I would tell you that THE LITTLE BOY INSIDE AND OTHER STORIES is great, but it wouldn't do it justice. It's a surprising, cohesive little tome with a fascination and an understanding of the human body you won't find anywhere else. It's one of a kind, suffocating and fascinated with the human body in the best possible ways.
* To a point is echoes Stephen King's obsession with protagonists who are writers.
** Then he gets mysteriously in touch with his feelings. Gotta love the blunt, but earnest approach to psychology.