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Gray's Anatomy
In middle age Spalding Gray has entered "the Bermuda Triangle of Health," that place where the body begins to break down in alarming and humiliating ways. His immediate problem is an eye complaint that could be corrected with minor surgery. But for the high priest of high anxiety, nothing is ever minor. And so Gray embarks on a crazed crusade for wellness that takes him from a Native American sweat lodge to a dictatorial nutritionist and, finally, to a gory session with the "Elvis Presley of psychic surgeons" in the Far East.Exquisitely timed, unfettered in its intelligence, and funny enough to push readers to the brink of cardiac arrest, Gray's Anatomy is a surreal tour de force of body and soul.
98 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 1993
About the author
Spalding Gray
24 books100 followersSpalding Gray was an American actor, screenwriter, performance artist, and playwright.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 2, 2011
Not sure I'll finish this. I loved Spalding Gray, the individual. In this book, however, his neurotic concern for his health seems like a forerunner of his suicide... I am getting old and don't want to relate that way. I have done more than my share of sweat lodges and energy healers. Yea, maybe I will finish this book.
November 5, 2017
Do You Remember Where You Were the Day You Heard Spalding Gray Jumped Off a Bridge to His Death and Other Conversation Starters
At eighty pages, you can read this book while letting simmer and stew one of those autumn soups you're yearning for on a cold and wet November afternoon. And what a joy it is, too, this book. Shot through with generous humor and heart, Gray takes you on a journey from doctor's office to shaman's sweatlodge and beyond as he tries to repair his eye-gone-funky.
You'll smile, you'll nod, you'll reach the final pages and enjoy the warmth of a happy ending. I suppose if I need to sell it more, I'd say that if you like David Sedaris, you'll love this hybrid of novella and dramatic monologue.
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Choice quote (from page 50):
If you don't drink, your day is just one big AAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - BED! It's a bore; there's no relief; there's no gestalt. There's no shift of gears. There's no change of consciousness. There's no relaxation. There's just too much reality.
At eighty pages, you can read this book while letting simmer and stew one of those autumn soups you're yearning for on a cold and wet November afternoon. And what a joy it is, too, this book. Shot through with generous humor and heart, Gray takes you on a journey from doctor's office to shaman's sweatlodge and beyond as he tries to repair his eye-gone-funky.
You'll smile, you'll nod, you'll reach the final pages and enjoy the warmth of a happy ending. I suppose if I need to sell it more, I'd say that if you like David Sedaris, you'll love this hybrid of novella and dramatic monologue.
--------------
Choice quote (from page 50):
If you don't drink, your day is just one big AAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - BED! It's a bore; there's no relief; there's no gestalt. There's no shift of gears. There's no change of consciousness. There's no relaxation. There's just too much reality.
August 21, 2007
The WASP's Woody Allen. Gray is always worth a read, although, to be frank it is a poor substitute for seeing him live. Alas, after his suicide in 2004, that's much harder to do. Still...it's a good subway read...makes you feel okay with your own personal neuroses.
June 9, 2021
Pandemic re-reading of my favorite, and, perhaps one of the one and only monologists, after picking up his diaries. I think this is my favorite of his works.
October 18, 2011
I don't agree with others who see Gray's Anatomy as an awkward articulation of his personal neuroses. This monologue is specifically about his eye, its degenerative condition and all the ways Gray investigates to remedy the condition ranging--from dodging a heart attack an Indian sweat lodge ceremony to visiting a Taiwanese psychic healer who specializes in pulling tumors the size of meatballs out of Japanese patients with his bare fingers.
From start to finish there is no rest with Gray trying whatever it takes to avoid a 2:1 chance operation in Manhattan, whereby a glass eye is just as probable as the eye being fixed. The restlessness is what makes the journey a joy, as well as the anticipation of hearing how far Gray will go (away from his comfort zone) in turning a loopy eye condition into a great story.
From start to finish there is no rest with Gray trying whatever it takes to avoid a 2:1 chance operation in Manhattan, whereby a glass eye is just as probable as the eye being fixed. The restlessness is what makes the journey a joy, as well as the anticipation of hearing how far Gray will go (away from his comfort zone) in turning a loopy eye condition into a great story.
August 31, 2019
Spalding Gray is alleged to be 'sidesplittingly funny.' I couldn't go so far as to use such words. He can be funny and he does bring out an occasional snort as I read him. Of course, his genius lies in his performance. I listened to Terrors of Pleasure, Monster In A box, and It's a Slippery Slope. All of them were better than Gray's Anatomy for me because they were aided by his brilliant performance. It was a mistake to read Gray's Anatomy instead of scouring the internet for an audio recording, but hey, what's done is done.
The textual experience should not be discounted though. The stories, very much like in stand-up, veer in all directions yet never loses its footing. The book never makes you want to stop. And the stories are detailed with that weird Spalding Gray's sight and feel. Being so short, one could read this in under an hour, but I'd caution against doing that. In fact, I'd caution the reader about reading it in the first place. If you can, listen to it. There's a version on YouTube, I think.
One thing I notice in all of Spalding Gray's works I've read and listened to is a feeling of 'Should I be laughing about this?' Because there is a clear existential torment just under the surface and while the fun bits are funny, they feel like a subtle distraction to he does to tell the audience and the readers his Gray's woes. Gray's Anatomy is about his left eye not working properly. He does to great lengths to undo that. The underlying meaning of it all is that he's getting too old and he doesn't like. He ignores reason, tries to justify his actions meeting sham doctors by his upbringing marred with Christian 'Science.' He panics at the very mention of marriage, at the age of fifty or thereabouts. In the underbelly of every story is the sense of this dread of growing old. In the end, the story ends on a positive note. He gets married. It could've been a nice thing if that really was the end.
The textual experience should not be discounted though. The stories, very much like in stand-up, veer in all directions yet never loses its footing. The book never makes you want to stop. And the stories are detailed with that weird Spalding Gray's sight and feel. Being so short, one could read this in under an hour, but I'd caution against doing that. In fact, I'd caution the reader about reading it in the first place. If you can, listen to it. There's a version on YouTube, I think.
One thing I notice in all of Spalding Gray's works I've read and listened to is a feeling of 'Should I be laughing about this?' Because there is a clear existential torment just under the surface and while the fun bits are funny, they feel like a subtle distraction to he does to tell the audience and the readers his Gray's woes. Gray's Anatomy is about his left eye not working properly. He does to great lengths to undo that. The underlying meaning of it all is that he's getting too old and he doesn't like. He ignores reason, tries to justify his actions meeting sham doctors by his upbringing marred with Christian 'Science.' He panics at the very mention of marriage, at the age of fifty or thereabouts. In the underbelly of every story is the sense of this dread of growing old. In the end, the story ends on a positive note. He gets married. It could've been a nice thing if that really was the end.
January 6, 2021
Also, I've given up drinking alcohol, which is an enormous event for me, because, certainly, after my mother's death the only religious ritual that survived in our home was cocktail hour. And I always celebrated it. If I wasn't working at night, I would celebrate it. If I was working, I'd celebrate it after I worked. But you know, what do you do if you don't drink? If you don't drink, your day is just one big "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-BED! It's a bore; there's no relief; there's no gestalt. There's no shift of gears. There's no change of consciousness. There's no relaxation. There's just to much reality.
Hilarious! And thought provoking.
I watched a couple of Spaulding's videos before finishing and loved having his voice in my head while reading.
Hilarious! And thought provoking.
I watched a couple of Spaulding's videos before finishing and loved having his voice in my head while reading.
November 4, 2016
Gray's anatomy pokes fun of being a Middle aged adult. One day, Gray discovers, much to his horror, that when he closes his right eye and looks only through his left, everything appears blurry and distorted. After procrastinating for a year, he talks to some eye doctors, who diagnose his problem as a macular pucker, a condition where some of the middle of the eye dissolves or leaks out, causing the macula, which is at the center of the eye, and is responsible for all detail in sight, to pucker up rather than lie flat. He then goes on a wacky journey to try to fix his problem through many unpredictable ways. The book is very funny and makes you feel like you're in his shoes. A great book.
April 12, 2024
Another fine monologue that explores the desperate lengths a man will go to deny his mortality. As Spalding Gray's eye becomes infected he trapezes through the five stages of grief for his mortal coil and lands on acceptance in a way only befitting the mad monologist himself. It's very interesting in several of his monologues how Spalding was afraid to die when he was a suicide victim. I can understand now what his family meant when they said that line from Big Fish "A man tells a story so many times he becomes it, and in that way a man is immortal" gave him closure, permissed him to die. For a man who was all stories, Spalding realized he had nothing to fear after all.
September 19, 2024
BIZARRE book. Memoir-ish style that reminds me of David Sedaris, except that the author is way more unhinged. The bulk of the story is about him trying to fix an eye problem he has. But he grew up as a Christian Scientist, which doesn’t believe in medicine. So he goes on a wild journey of trying to get help in an Indian sweat lodge, a healer that has him palm his eyes, a psychic surgeon in the Philippines that looks like he’s pulling meatballs from peoples bodies, etc. before going back to a surgeon. And then as a side topic his girlfriend of over a decade wants to get married. Truly wild.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2024
I watched the 1 hr 30 mins documentary special where he reads/performs out his dramatized monologue of this book and it was fantastic. He was funny, dry, and had such a colorful eccentric mind. He was a very interesting man. I am immensely saddened though by the last few years of his life after his car accident in Ireland.. just tragic.
February 6, 2020
4.0 I think I liked this better because I am starting to understand the rhythm of how Spalding wrote these epic monologues. The humor, the sorrow, the slight madness.
August 6, 2020
Got this from the library of UCB when it shut down in NYC, 2020.
Read
November 5, 2022mom sent this, read in a day, silly and easy
July 12, 2023
As the author enters the Bermuda Triangle of health he seeks many and varied ways to avoid actually getting medical treatment. A (short)book all men of a certain age should read! SM
November 9, 2022
Never quite grabbed me, but enjoyable nonetheless.
March 8, 2008
Very quick read...probably my favorite Gray monologue after "Sex and Death." He seems a little more human and a little less pretentious and in-crowdesque (always his primary weakness) in "Gray's Anatomy." Would work well on a plane...you can knock it out in a couple of hours.
February 6, 2008
Anything Spalding is a treat. He weaves his own neurosis into his life experiences with wit as dry as the Gobi. It seems the only way for him to have survived as long as he did. Let it out. His monologues are equally tasty if you want to rent one. He will be missed.
July 31, 2007
The eccentric, hypochondriacal monologuist seeks a cure for his detached retina in faith healers and other weirdos.
February 13, 2008
Cody and I saw him perform this monologue at the Dennis Playhouse. I loved it, loved him, and I still feel awful that he's gone.
March 26, 2010
Spalding Gray is neurotic a la Woody Allen, and while his prose is sometimes lacking, he is an engaging storyteller. It's a perfect subway read.
October 11, 2010
actually got to see him perform this monologue at ucsb
April 2, 2012
funny, fast yet moving meditation on mortality, belief, psychic surgery, sweat lodges and marriage.
August 28, 2013
Perhaps Spald's tour-de-force of monologues. Does he or doesn't he get corrective eye surgery? His adventures to that end read like a through the looking glass of hell. His pain, my pleasure.
September 13, 2015
It was okay, enjoyable. A lot of the humour just wasn't my thing. I didn't love the writing, it was a little amateur and manic. Overall it was enjoyable but not something I would likely read again.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews