The Anatomy Lesson/a Novel

by John David Morley

Taking its inspiration (and its title) from the famous Rembrandt masterpiece that depicts a seventeenth-century public autopsy, The Anatomy Lesson follows Kiddo, a streetwise ingenuous American teenager who has exiled himself by choice in modern Amsterdam. Sponging off the Dutch welfare system and trading dole for drugs, Kiddo is fighting for his life to come to terms with the premature death of his older brother Morton. A bona fide genius with his halo of flame-red hair shining like a beacon of intelligence, Morton, even in death, was always the patron saint and guru for his younger sibling. But gradually Kiddo begins to unveil the chilling, dark side of his brother that he never knew. Honoring his last request, Kiddo must bear witness to Morton's autopsy. The anatomy lesson proves to be only the beginning of a painful journey of emotional and sexual awakening that is at once both devastating and liberating.

Genres: Fiction

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Mohammed Habeeb]

one day I was at the national library , I took nearly an hour in roaming at it & looking for a good book to read, I got a one but it wasnt that good it is " the anatomy lesson" one thing let me read it badly was when Kiddo knew that his older brother is going to die in a few days suffering a terminal cancer and Kiddio is dying inside when he remember that he is giong to lose his brother , and I just figured out that the writer "John David Morely" has a frail & bad style of giving proverbs with a naughty texts do not like most of readers , so I give it just a 2 stars .

[Kat! · Rating 3 out of 5]

ugh the rating doesn't give the full picture, which is that i loved and hated the book in equal parts. first... 75%? of the book was marvelous perfect fantastic. i'm not sure if the last quarter can even be described as a plot twist but well, it sucked and was awful and made me so angry that's how the book ended. nothing even made sense! nothing was resolved! i even thought that there was going to be some supernatural twist that the author was hinting at, with the "body with two different ages", and morton being a doppleganger for frans, but the twist i guess is just that men are evil creatures who can never be forgiven or loved and shame on you for believing otherwise!

ughhhhhh everything after the autopsy just sucked so bad! i'm pissed because i loved the world it was setting up and the potential avenues it could've expanded on and i think it could've been one of my favorite reads of the year. but now i just can't wait to forget it.

[hailey jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

very VERY interesting book. this is one of those books that will sit in my head for a very long time. sometimes i scroll through the books i’ve read on here and i cannot remember a thing about them.
that won’t happen with this one. for sure.
unlike any book i have read in my entire life.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept. A story built around a piece of art.

[in8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

read in 97: https://5cense.com/21/857.htm

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended by Reinout. Unsettling and weird.

[Z]

Disa recommended this to me, like, six or seven years ago, but for whatever reason it was completely impossible to find. Maybe I'll stumble across a copy eventually.

[Elizabeth Desole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too drug-addled for me