Title: Torso, Heart, Head
Author: Amber Rose Reed
Date of First Publication: 2016
Place of Publication: Eternal Frankenstein
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: Amber Rose Reed’s entry in Eternal Frankenstein offers homage to Mary Shelley’s writing style in Frankenstein more so than her plot and themes. Seemingly disjointed, much like Shelley’s Creature, the story is sliced into three “chapters,” all three of which contain an unsettling aura. The first episode, “Torso,” sees the speaker saving a young boy who has been pinned under a heavy cart that only he is able to lift. “Torso” is followed by “Heart,” which hints at the speaker being deserted by a lover, possibly even being left at the altar. Finally, “Head,” shows a father pleading for the return home of the story’s speaker from university. Said speaker rejects these appeals in favor of searching out his passion, and he sounds on awful lot like….
Though differing from Shelley’s work in content, Reed’s writing style is an obvious nod to Frankenstein; as the Creature is assembled from cut up and sewn together parts, so is “Torso, Heart, Head.”
Administrative Notes: Hannah Summy, CSUF; Christian Bazinet (Editing)