Within Normal Limits

by Todd Grimson

Within Normal Limits

246 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 1987

About the author

Todd Grimson was born in 1952 in Seattle and moved to Portland, Oregon at an early age. At the age of 22, having gone through all kinds of dead-end employment, Grimson took a civil service exam and ended up working at the VA Hospital in its surgical intensive care unit, which he found highly educational. He went on to work nightshift in the emergency room at Emanuel Hospital, where most local victims of violent crime were seen—an intense experience informing his first novel, “Within Normal Limits,” which he wrote under the mentorship of Paul Bowles, whom he had met and studied with during a summer writing workshop in Tangier, Morocco. Published in the prestigious “Vintage Contemporaries” series as a trade paperback original, “Within Normal Limits” earned critical acclaim and was the winner of the Oregon Book Award in 1988.

It was shortly before the publication of this first novel that Grimson was first
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable, degenerative disease. However, his symptoms went away and did not reappear until the summer of 1991. Stricken suddenly, housebound and incapacitated, Grimson found himself having vivid and surreal dreams, which later became the source and literally a part of the novel, “Brand New Cherry Flavor,” which blends this phantasmagorical dreamscape with the innovation of “cinematic realism.” Critically acclaimed both in the US and in the UK, this novel was followed by “Stainless” (Schaffner Press: Feb. 2012), an urban noir vampire novel set in late 1990’s L.A.

In recent years, Grimson has been writing and publishing short fiction online under the nom de plume “I. Fontana,” appearing in such literary reviews as BOMB, Bikini Girl, Juked, New Dead Families, Spork, Lamination Colony and Spork, while working on a new novel, “sickgirl101,” a thriller which delves into the online Alt Sex underworld, exploring and exposing the darker side of contemporary sexuality as perhaps no one else has done before.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainly just stories about working as an ER doctor but captivating enough to hold my interest. Being a doctor sounds pretty awful, though.

[Megha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has a very loose plot (about his unstable relationship with wife), its mainly stories from the Emergency room. These are plenty and very very interesting. But its more than that. It'sabout the strange relations we have with others and stranger more with ourselves.
Considering this is Grimson's debut book, I am very impressed.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky stream of conciousness, but enjoyable nonetheless.