‘A Sense of Humour’ by Rik Gammack

Story Title: ‘A Sense of Humour’ by Rik Gammack
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 3 (Bristol Review of Books Ltd.)
Date Read: 17 September 2010
Briefly: The story joins the narrator as he returns home after recovering from a serious accident. Well I say recover but he was actually killed when his body was dragged under a train. No need to worry though because it’s the future and the narrator’s rich aunt can afford something called a Resurrection policy. This ultimate life insurance policy allows a person to be restored – albeit in a cloned body – from a previous ‘back-up’ of their brain.
Afterthoughts: When I first read Rik’s bio and it said that he often writes short stories that combine erotica and scifi, I’ll admit I was worried what I was getting myself into. Fact is this is a really good story – a thought-provoking scifi yarn – and it doesn’t have a bit of erotica in sight (well, with the exception of one..ehem..small part ). Seriously though this a clever little story from Gammack, and it’s one that really gets you thinking. There’s a nice twist at the end too, although it’s not entirely unexpected.

Rating:

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology, Volume 3. If you want to find out more about this anthology then I invite you to head on over and read my ‘forethoughts’ post, and/or visit the the Bristol Short Story Prize website.