A collection of short stories about couples, whether they are a couple for just a few hours or for decades. The title is the story of a young man who graduates college in the East, detaches from his girlfriend with a sense of relief, and takes a job at an El Paso newspaper. He's quickly promoted to music reviewer and is required to attend the big concerts that come to town, which are mostly heavy metal bands, and he begins seeing a local woman when his former girlfriend suddenly appears and decides they are still a couple.
The stories are sometimes despairing, other times comedic, and the couples, or potential couples, range in age from teens to widowers. I liked "Geek Player, Love Slayer" about a reporter in her 30's who is disgusted by her attraction to the immature company computer guy. ( )

A bit all over the place, but some of the stories were sneakily memorable and keep popping into my mind a few days later. ( )

Not much to say on this, really. I like Steve Almond's short stories, but I think I liked Evil BB Chow better.

Took me forever to read this, as I kept wandering off from it. ( )

Sex-focused coming-of-age stories. Very arty. Meh. The only ones I rather liked were the title story, "My Life in Heavy Metal," and "How to Love a Republican" and, somewhat less, "Run Away, My Pale Lover." I am unsurprised to find that these were the stories that published in a couple of editions of Playboy and of Ploughshares. ( )

See my review at Fiction readings, Steve Almond. (I loved it.) ( )