The Brains of Rats

In these twelve stories we enter the darkest corridors of America s hospitals. Meet a scientist who discovers how to predetermine and alter the sex of a pregnant woman s fetus, and proceeds to contemplate his own gender...and a surgeon whose primary practice is removing organs and limbs from unwilling patients to redistribute them to unfortunate victims in impoverished countries. Filled with dark surprises, these splendid tales invite us to glimpse the world of high-tech medicine from a disturbing new angle.

The dozen stories in Blumlein's first collection signal the appearance of a major talent on the horror scene. Subtle and chilling in their spare suggestiveness, many of the short tales revolve around medical and surgical matters, but are not grossly gory. In "Tissue Ablation and Variant Regeneration: A Case Report," an extensive surgical procedure becomes a metaphor for Reaganomics at its cruelest. In a similar vein, "Bestseller" concerns a failed writer who is forced to sell off parts of his body to support his family. The title story, a 1987 World Fantasy Award nominee, examines the distress of a mad scientist torn by the contradictions of his own sexuality and by the amorphous nature of male and female sexual roles in general, for which he proposes a drastic solution.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An ambitious writer discovers a truly saleable commodity in "Bestseller," a new story which, together with 11 other titles previously published in periodicals, illustrates the highly visceral talent of the author of The Movement of Mountains (LJ 8/87). Though explicit descriptions of graphic sex and violence may limit the audience for these stories, this collection is recommended for libraries with a sophisticated readership.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.