Strange Medicine - Mike Russell's collection of eight strange, wacky, weird short stories with bite. There's good reason why the British author features teeth as part of the book's cover art. I so much enjoyed each and every tale, I was likewise inspired to include the above set of pearl white choppers.
In his first collection, Nothing is Strange, Mike Russell wrote: "My life appeared strange because it was one way and not another. Only if it had been every possibility at once would it have not appeared strange. And that is what I am now. Every possibility at once. And nothing is strange."
Strange Medicine picks up on this strangeness and fans out in a number of tantalizing directions. You may ask: How exactly? To provide hints, here's my brief write-up of several tales to serve as an invitation to sink your teeth into these delectable literary morsels.
FLOCK
Anthony Tobias Bradshaw is a man of rigid routine - his pin-striped suit, his white shirt and black tie, his reading the morning newspaper, his continuing to take the 7:00 train in order to perform administrative tasks at an office even after his retirement and even after the business closed down twelve years ago. His every thought and action serve to solidify his ironclad identity as Anthony Tobias Bradshaw.
But on this morning, riding the train, Anthony Tobias Bradshaw has an encounter with the future that leads to flashes of insight reminding me of a line from Wallace Stevens:
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
A tale of radical transformation combined with signature Mike Russell strangeness.
TELEPHONE
A love story capsulized in six telephone conversations. Although Mandy and Dan have been exchanging telephone calls, they have never met in person. No matter - those three magical words are spoken: "I love you." So sweet, so heartfelt. However, a dab of complexity and intrigue is injected into the mix: the telephone itself is an object of love. And not only is the telephone the recipient of love, the telephone can also voice those most singular words: "I love you." Thus we have a love triangle. Sound strange? No wonder Strange Medicine includes a subtitle on the back cover: "Weird and wonderful stories for all that ails you."
MR. DENNIS AND THE UNIVERSE
"With a two-foot long, rectangular, metal box clutched tight to his chest, a sullen-looking man wearing a thick coat, knitted hat and fingerless gloves steps on a train. He shuffles through the carriage, looking for an empty seat, finds one, then hangs his head and closes his eyes. This is Mr. Dennis."
These are the first lines of this tale beginning in tragedy and grief. And for good reason - as we soon learn, Mr. Dennis is dealing with the recent loss his newborn daughter.
Recall I noted Mike Russell's strangeness fans out in a number of tantalizing directions. This story is case in point - Mr. Dennis on the train responds to questions posed by jocular, chatty Jerry and Mr. Dennis' answers include how he was thrown out of his lodgings since he "shot the universe." Added to this, subsequent striking events in Mr. Dennis' hotel room and on the beach in a seaside town elevate this strange tale to one of singular dramatic power.
THE SPY
Poor narrator! She must deal with someone spying on her. Why her? After all, she lives an utterly unimportant, mundane life.
A highly philosophic tale bringing to mind Jean-Paul Sartre's observation that Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" is inaccurate since "the consciousness that says "I am" is not the consciousness that thinks." No better way to explore the dimensions of what Sartre is driving at here then taking a gander at this bit of Mike Russell strangeness.
SHISH
Readers who like weird fiction, will LOVE this Mike Russell weirdest of the weird. So weird, I was freaked out (but in a good way), which says something since it takes a mighty weird tale to freak me out. Shish is not only weird, it is super-weird - short story as sharp, gleaming set of choppers jumping out of its hiding place to inflict a serious bite. Beware!
Nothing is Strange was my first Mike Russell. Strange Medicine, my second. Good news - to date, he has three more published books. I look forward to reading and reviewing all three in the upcoming months.
British author Mike Russell, born 1973
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