The Heart and Other Viscera: Stories

by Félix J. Palma

The New York Times bestselling author of the “supernatural tour de force” (M.J. Rose, bestselling author) The Map of Time crafts an enchanting collection of twelve evocative and macabre stories delving into the magical, ordinary, and darker aspects of love in all its powerful forms.

A young girl receives letters from her lost doll; a cat madly in love with her human neighbor; a bored office worker escapes his monotonous life by traveling on his grandfather’s model train; a man gives all of himself to the woman he loves, piece by piece.

These are just a few of the unforgettable characters that inhabit Félix J. Palma’s gorgeously wrought short story collection, by turns mesmerizing, morbid, and melancholy. This collection contains selections from three previously published anthologies, bringing together in one volume some of Palma’s most celebrated stories. Available for the first time in English and with his signature “lyrical storytelling and a rich attention to detail” ( Library Journal ), The Heart and Other Viscera explores the wonder, madness, and heartbreak of love, and the lengths to which some are willing to go to protect, honor, and cherish the ones they love.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Magical Realism, Horror, Fantasy, Adult, Speculative Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2019

About the author

Félix Jesús Palma Macías, was born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain on June 16, 1968. He attended Francisco Pacheco High School and studied Publicity at the University at Sevilla.

His first volume of stories, El Vigilante de la Salamandra (The Lizard's Keeper) showed his ability to introduce fantasy into the every day. He is also author of the storybooks: Métodos de Supervivencia (Methods of Survival), Las Interioridades (Interiors), Los Arácnidos (The Arachnid), and El Menor Espectáculo del Mundo (The World’s Smallest Show).

Palma has also published La Hormiga que Quiso ser Astronauta (The Ant that Wanted to Become an Astronaut), Las Corrientes Oceánicas (The Ocean Currents), and El Mapa del Tiempo (The Map of Time). The Map of Time was the first novel to be published in the United States.

His book have garned many awards. His Los Arácnidos won the Cádiz Latin American Story Award, Las Corrientes Oceánicas won the 2005 Luis Berenguer Award for Novel and El Mapa del Tiempo was awarded the Ateneo de Sevilla XL Prize in 2008.

His work has been translated into more than 25 languages and published in over 30 countries. Palma has also worked as a columnist, literary critic and has given creative writing workshops.

Reviews

[Paula K · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like dark, bizarre fantasy tales Spanish writer Felix Palma is for you.

Palma has put together a combination of twelve short stories that are both sinister and at the same time mundane. The overall theme is love, but the stories are written in a strange and gruesome manner. They are like adult fairy tales with a twist of horror, magic, and heartbreak. Some of the stories about what people will do for love are way out there. I liked some better than others.

3 out of 5 stars

I would like to thank Venus from Atria Books for providing an ARC In exchange for an honest review.

Publication date - September 17, 2019

Reviewed on September 16, 2019

[Zoeytron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The horror of Sunday dinner at the in-laws, a rental that comes with a man behind a curtain, an individual who is looking for love with the aid of a telescope.  The repetitive tedium of loneliness is a focus with the individuals in these twelve tales.  With lives of ennui, they struggle to find love, or anything to give them a purpose.  Original ideas but they ended up skirting full dark for me.  

Thank you to my GR friend Paula who shared her ARC with me.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

Félix J. Palma's The Heart and Other Viscera offers an unexpected and unsettling collection of short stories. Things are never quite what they seem; the living and the dead become confused; people dwell in more than one world at once. It's the perfect book for picking up before bedtime: you can read through one story then fall asleep turning it over in your mind. I don't have access to the Spanish original, but the translation strikes me as particularly good: the language flows naturally and also has a wonderful level of precision.

[Crystal]

DNF a minute or so into the second story.

The first story made me cross. The main character's girlfriend/alternate reality girlfriend was more a barely sketched out fantasy than a real woman, she was custom ordered and created by his grandfather for his pleasure. Then the second story started and a woman's body is described in such an obnoxious way I was completely done.

[Aftin Combs · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Heart and Other Viscera - I could not finish this book. I made it through 52% of the stories.

Roses Against The Wind - 2 Stars - The first thing I noticed going into this story was the writing style felt overly descriptive. It seemed almost every noun had to be paired with an adjective if not multiple adjectives. This made the sentences read a bit clunky for me. The concept was intriguing and was satisfying to read about, but the characters and their motivations felt so self centered. All three of the men in this family didn't seem to care about what other people around them wanted or felt. It ended up leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

The Kaenina Syndrome - 1 Star - The flow and style of this story felt more natural to me, but the point of view character was just so unlikeable. The way he spoke about the other characters, even his wife Eva, seemed like he was repulsed by them. In contrast, I found for the most part his in-laws and wife seemed to be rather bland average people not worthy of his ridicule. The ending was unexpected.

Snow Globe - 4 Stars- This story had such a lovely atmosphere, and a really odd sweetness to it.
The Land of the Dolls - 3 Stars - I really liked this story. The last line was a bit jarring for me and upset me enough to knock a full star off though.

A Fairy-Tale Life - 3 Stars - I just don't think this story was for me. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't really pull me in either.

Little Fury Animals - 1 Star - I don't think I'm going to continue in reading this collection of stories. The writing choices make me angry and the casual way in which violence, hatred, and sexualization of women is handled feels dated and malicious.

[Amber Woodward · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stereotypical male author gaze if I've ever seen one. Lots of bouncing breasts and love stories that women don't know they're a part of because some guy staring out a window staked a claim on her. Nothing creative, subversive, or new here, just some so-so, rehashed tales with no real destination.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Favorites:
* Roses Against the Wind
* Snow Globe
* The Land of the Dolls

There are some absolutely wonderful short stories in this anthology, some that would go perfectly with a long train or plane ride. Even some without the ensuing caveat.

But.

As I continued from story to story, there was an increasing trend of low-key misogyny of a very particular stench. The recurring theme became one of a man who thinks of himself as a lover - a lover of women in particular - and who prides himself on this, while in actuality he's a lover of sex who often despises the women in his life. Your mileage may vary. After giving Palma the benefit of the doubt for several stories, I finally gave up, tired of reading about cardboard or appalling women playing opposite an inevitably confident, charmingly quirky male lead.

[Kiprop Kimutai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once in a rare while, you find a writer who writes the stories that you just wanted to read, using language that sings to you. Félix J. Palma is that writer to me, and The Heart and Other Viscera, that book! He turns the ordinary into the surreal, but at the same time, grounds it in time and place, so that as a reader, you aren't lost. Your mind will be taken in a riotous, exciting journey reading these stories that are a delicate balance of the fabulist and the quotidian. Of course this book of short stories has flaws. At times the writer seems eager to provide another metaphor or another image, for that which he has already communicated: making parts of the prose come across as purple. But who wants a perfect book! This book is a delicious morsel.

[Hannah Seeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were some top notch short stories. Felix J Palma certainly knows how to write a gripping work of literature. In turns warm, thoughtful, and disturbing, all the stories were very different interpretations of love.

[Kaelee · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times this felt like the most poetic and deeply romantic thing I’d ever read, and at others it felt like a try-hard 15 year old writing tumblr posts into the void. Still really liked it though, the stories are the perfect length to get hooked and left wanting just a little more.
I was definitely impressed with some of the plot lines/plot twists.

[John McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across author Felix J. Palma when I was browsing in a Barnes and Noble years ago. I came across The Map of Time and, intrigued, I bought the book and really enjoyed it. Palma's new themed short collection, The Heart and Other Viscera, contains twelve short stories all centered around love. Some discuss love in an "ordinary" way, and others are magical and macabre. My favorites were "The Land of the Dolls" (a father-daughter story in which the daughter loses her doll and her father writes letters as the doll, a la Kafka) and "Roses Against the Wind" (a grandson travels mysteriously in dreams on his grandfather's train set). Palma succeeds in writing about love, which can be a very cliched topic, in haunting, original, and mysterious ways.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the first couple of stories in this, but despite the accessible writing style (I saw some people complaining about excessive adjectives but this was as easy to understand as a stop sign compared to my last read, China Dream) it quickly devolved into something I was not a fan of at all. So many of the stories had interesting concepts (particularly The Man Behind the Curtain and The Heart and Other Viscera) but the interesting ideas within them felt ignored in favor of talking about how the male main character was soo lonely but this beautiful curvaceous (a word used far too many times) woman he only just met would solve his problems, or about him suspecting for years his wife was cheating on him and then he was right, and so forth. I did not like this. I kept thinking about how this and Homesick for Another World both talk a lot about loneliness and carry a feeling of ennui but Homesick for Another World did it in a way where you could feel the characters' misery dripping off the page and understand that even if it is totally their fault it is about feeling at a remove from other people...but here it was more of just the feeling of a man watching out a window lusting.

Roses Against the Wind
I checked this book out a month ago and decided to use this story as a litmus test to decide whether I should read the whole thing or just return it. Big mistake!! It was one of the better stories but not my favorite. In the moment it was really interesting but with hindsight the was the receptionist was magically twisted into the narrator's story with no idea of what was happening to her or why is strikingly similar to the ickier moments of later stories. Regardless I did like how the fear of rats at the beginning paid off.

The Karenina Syndrome
At this point I was enjoying the writing style but this story wasn't my favorite. It later was bumped up to much higher on the list though it was a case of another male narrator who is way too paranoid about his wife's potential affairs with no confirmation (based on something from when she was a teenager...)

Snow Globe
This was my favorite story!! It was a surprising moment of sweetness amongst the others. I really liked the reveal at the end which felt like a very classic short story thing to do — I'd kind of guessed it but wasn't expecting it to actually happen.

The Land of Dolls
This one was my second favorite. I was expecting something very different and much more whimsical from what this ended up being but it still was pretty good. The first ending was very sweet and when I turned the page to the second ending it was INSANE. I loved the way the last line twisted it into a horror. In the context of a couple other stories I don't feel as good about it as when I first finished it but I think it was still pretty good.

A Fairy Tale Life
The first one I actively disliked. In my notes I described it as "Man makes himself miserable. Meets woman in a bar and is scared of her. Goes to take advantage of an old woman by pawning off his made ups truggles onto her. Finds the woman he was scared of instead but — shocker!!! — without her scary makeup she is actually sooo vulnerable and lonely just like him so they magically fall in love." Not for me!!

Little Furry Animals
I did not like this one either but I found it wasn't as bad because I could see a stalker story as being intentionally icky. Like this was extremely unpleasant to read and our narrator was disgusting but in this story I could tell myself it was intentional.

The Brave Anesthesist
I didn't like this one either. Before this I'd been thinking added to his unpleasant descriptions of women the fact that every single story is about a man becomes kind of a red flag so when I realized this was from the pov of a woman I was hesitantly intrigued but it was bad. Still centered a man. Also it was really confusing and I did not know what was going on.

Meows
This one had a LOT of terrible Male Author moments. I just love (not at all) how the first thing you say about introducing your neighbor as someone who works out is that you've always admired women who can set aside time to keep their body beautiful. And the randomly touching her thigh the first time he meets her. I don't think a real woman would ever act the way the woman in this story acted. Typical of this sort of man to assume the cat is in love with him because it was born the same day his mystery girlfriend died and his name sounds like its meow.

The Violinist on the Roof
This one had nothing too objectionable (maybe because there was no attempt at romance) but it was just boring and did nothing for me.

The Man Behind the Curtain
I really liked the concept of this one, of a mysterious observer who never moves or ages but always watches, is both there and not there, is never acknowledged so it is like he doesn't exist. Alas, it was another story about a man convinced his wife is cheating on him, learns that she really is, and ruins his own life over it.

The Heart and Other Viscera
Another one with an interesting idea and meh execution. From the POV of a woman which did not save it from mentions of (her own lack of) a "curvaceous figure". I didn't love the reveal at the end either — that was the most boring possible reason for him to do all that. Also kinda takes away her agency a lot by not letting her know her medical situation at all?

The Seven (or so) Lives of Sebastian Mingorance
I disliked this story so much that I wanted to 1-star this book and kept having to remind myself I actually did like a couple stories. Didn't love the structure but it was fine — surprisingly coherent — but the descriptions of Claudia, particularly when Mingorance comes across her in the street, were the worst descriptions of women in a book that just looves to unnecessarily mention breasts. And calling one of his alternate selves "brave" for deciding to cross the street and break into his neighbor's house and try to stake a claim on Claudia HAVING NEVER MET HER. Instead of calling him "unreasonable" and "insane". I did not like this.

[Eileen Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oscillating breast and buttocks? What rubbish is this? Does the author’s penis oscillate when he runs? Does he also think beautiful women rub soap sensually in their most private places in the shower? Has this man ever met a woman? And you cannot prevent cellulite by running, it’s genetic. Tossed this book across the room and it’s still sitting in the corner where I’m afraid to touch it again.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that will make you think. Some will make you cringe and others feel.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend of mine asked me if I had read this book that he just finished? He seems quite excited by it. Apparently he is a well-known Spanish author, my friend noted. I was stumped. I am familiar with many Spanish authors but this one drew a blank. I Googled him and he wrote The Map of Time. Still blank. Since I am not a fan of fantasy, which explains what genre Palma writes under, you can forgive me for not knowing.

I trusted my friend and read on. Twelve short stories that border on the marvellous to the bizarre. The central theme is love and it’s many faceted and/or twisted aspects. One might consider a trip to the Twilight Zone (if you are old enough). Things are decidedly, no, purposely off, deranged, twisted and sometimes strange.

I will start with the book’s title and the most disturbing story of the lot. How far would you go for love? What if metaphor became reality. Not for the feint of heart (sorry bad pun). This was pure shock value.

“The Karenina Syndrome” told the story of a husband and wife visiting her parents for Sunday dinner. The father in law was not a great host while the mother in law never let anyone else speak. Then, by chance the husband finds a steamy love letter in Anna Karenina. A mystery begins but not so favourable for the husband.

“The Land of the Dolls” has a father challenged how to deal with his daughter after the loss of her favourite doll. His neighbour suggests writing letters to his daughter from the doll. Apparently Kafka did this in his last year before he died. It works for the daughter; not so much for the wife.

Some of the stories remind me Gabriel García Márquez although the writer says he was inspired by Julio Cortázar. That is a good thing and some stories are quite good. Some are just a little strange for my taste. They all deal with relations, almost all falling apart or in need of something new and exciting. One drawback was there more sexism than I needed.

It was a fast read and it was good to step out of my comfort zone.

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Errggg I’m torn. Three of these stories are fantastic ("Snow Globe," "The Land of the Dolls," "Roses Against the Wind"), and Palma pulled off the unique structure of one story that he had no business to make work, but it totally did ("The Seven [Or So] Lives of Sebastian Mingorance"). Some of the prose was really pretty; some of it was overwrought. But quite a few of the stories fell flat; the cat story was straight-up bad ("Meows"). While the concepts of some were good ("The Man Behind The Curtain," "The Heart and Other Viscera") I found myself scratching my head because something about the execution didn't feel quite right— as if the stories, although magical realism, weren't fully convinced of their own story logic.

Primarily I was disappointed by how the women characters were written and treated throughout; only two of the twelve stories are narrated by a woman or written about a woman protagonist, in addition to just like, Trademark Female Character Treatment of every other woman, which consistently made the collection hard for me to enjoy.

Here's my ranking:
5 stars - Snow Globe, The Land of the Dolls, Roses Against the Wind
4 stars - The Violinist on the Roof, The Heart and Other Viscera, The Seven (Or So) Lives of Sebastian Mingorance
3 stars - The Karenina Syndrome, The Man Behind the Curtain
2 stars - A Fairy-Tale Life, The Brave Anesthetist
1 star - Little Furry Animals, Meows

[Dan Graser · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a huge fan of the "Map of Time" books from Félix J. Palma I was delighted to see that he had published a set of short stories. The focus here is on matters of the heart, both literally and poetically, and the stranger and darker sides of, "love." As per usual, he works in a somewhat twisted fictional realm that veers sharply into the science-fiction genre before receding into a more poetic and mainstream fictional prose. His delivery is just as unique here as in his long fiction, though understandably, leaves less of an impact than those works may have. Of the 12 short stories offered here, I found that "Little Furry Animals," "The Violinist on the Roof," and "The Heart and Other Viscera," had the greatest impact. The latter begins with one of the finer lines in short fiction:
"On my birthday, Marcello gave me his gallbladder."

The dark humor and wit along with the rapid-fire traipsing into the science-fiction realm make these a pleasure to read, though, you likely will find a good number of them easily forgettable.

[Carroll Nelson Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories feature,fantasy (to varying degrees) delineating the gap between ideal romantic love and not-so-magical real lives of protagonists, who are generally indecisive and emotionally disappointed. The concepts and composition are clever and well-executed. The expression is playful and entertaining; there are parodies of some classic fairy tales. This reader's favorite is "Furry Little Animals": a pessimistic but lovestruck voyeur's lust for a pet store clerk is frustrated by his indecisiveness; slightly dark but hilarious. Also special are: "The Man Behind the Curatain" (metaphorically questions whether accepting God is part of general lethargy with which one accepts an unsatisfying life); "The Heart and Other Viscera" (exposes the oddity and extravagance of figures of speech commonly applied to romantic love by depicting them literally); "The Six (or Seven) Lives of Sebastian Mingorance" (branching Mitty-esque imaginary exploits of an indecisive nobody).

[Jesse | jessereviewsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed The Map of Time Trilogy, I was very excited to pick up Felix J. Palma's newest book - a collection of short stories focusing on love (but turning it on its head). I found some of the stories to be very intriguing and others to be too far out there. My personal favorites were a story about a man behind a curtain, one about a man who gives himself to his lover piece by piece (literally), and one where a cat falls in love with a man. They're all strange to read, but the emotion behind everything makes sense. Overall, I thought it was a mixed bag and I was slightly disappointed because I loved the The Map of Time trilogy so much.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer Holloway Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read from this author and I was really impressed with the variety of stories in this collection. This author really grasps character development and presents these stories with not only heart, but also so much imagination. There are a couple of these stories that I will remember for quite some time. The Land of the Dolls resonated the most with me, however close second is the one about the man who starts giving away pieces of himself. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

[Azzurra Nox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these short stories. They were very well written and I liked how many of them explored the emotions of betrayal, love gone wrong, and strange coincidences. I really enjoyed one story where the father began writing letters to his daughter pretending it was from her doll when she lost her doll at the park. It started out very heartfelt to then end with a violent bang. I recommend this collection for those who love speculative fiction and literary fiction.

[Akeiisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this collection of dark and disturbing stories to be uneven. Most had an interesting angle, but some were overly long or stylistically challenging. I thought the following were the strongest pieces in this collection - The Land of the Dolls, Roses against the Wind, and The Heart and Other Viscera. There may also have been some issues with the translation as I caught a few grammatical errors throughout. Overall 2.5 out of 5

[Chris Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an unusual collection of short stories, and exactly the kind of book I wanted. I am a fan of Mr. Palma's other work, the Map trilogy, and descriptions of the stories in this book intrigued me.

If you want to read stories that are unsettling, fascinating, fantastic, heartbreaking, heartwarming, startling, creative, unexpected, and unique, read this. Skip the jacket blurb. Don't read about it — jusr READ IT.

You're welcome.

[Dani Winders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never would have picked up this book. Short stories aren't really my thing, and the topic didn't appeal to me. But my book club picked it and I read a couple raving reviews for Palma, so I gave it a try. I'm not sorry I did. It was dark, dysfunctional and even misogynistic, but if you're willing to overlook some of that, the writing talent and the creativity made it worth the read, in my opinion.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give this 3.5 or 3.75 stars. I don't feel like it was quite a 4 star book but definitely exceeded my 3 star standards. It was a strong, solid collection of short stories. All of them felt complete and finished. I never felt the urge to skip ahead, or skim, or Google a synopsis.

However, none of them felt amazing to me. Interesting, definitely. Well written, absolutely. Memorable, probably not.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I normally don't have short stories as my favorites, but after reading his three large novels in his Victorian series and falling in love, I wanted to find anything more by him. This book of a dozen short stories was all I can find that is translated into English from Spanish. Once again, his gift of prose that I loved so much in the three novels that began with The Map of Time is just as evident in these short stories and I loved the entire book!

[Fern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really that gruesome. More offbeat than anything else. Particularly lile the one about the young man whose grandfather builds the ultimate train model universe and the father who tries to comfort his little girl with letters from a lost doll. The title story is slightly macabre but more weirdly sweet than horrifying.

[Yolanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although well written I did not care for these short stories

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange, often running towards darkness and violence, but sometimes hopeful. Lyrical and intriguing nonetheless. Easy reading, very self-contained short stories.

[Bekah B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Turns out this just isn't my thing. I didn't get it at all