Summary

“Don’t You Hate Having Two Heads?” by Christine Poulson tells the story of Richard, a man who is about forty, and is looking at a surrealist sculpture in the Guggenheim Museum in Venice. He is horrified by the grotesque sculpture, which is named “Woman with her Throat Cut”. Richard’s attention is caught by the sight of a woman who is admiring a strange surrealist painting called “The Robbing of the Bride”. The two interact, exchange a few words, and then separate.

After a few minutes, Richard goes searching for the woman; when he sees her, he follows her to her table in a café, and they engage in a conversation. The woman reveals that her name is Jessica David, while Richard does not give her his real name. She also says that she is a student and that she researches various surrealist artists from a feminist perspective, especially the way in which surrealists tended to silence women. Their conversation is interrupted by Richard observing a title in the newspaper next to Jessica, one which announces a murder in Venice. After Jessica reveals that ...