Bullfighting : Stories

Review "Fine, poignant and subtly humorous stories. . . . [ Bullfighting ] is probably the finest collection of Irish short stories since James Joyces Dubliners . The delicacy of emotion is here, the spare but elegant writing, the heartbreak and humour. . . . Theres laugher and sadness, provided by a writer at his peak, teasing meaning out of the ordinary with exquisite skill and delicacy. John Doyle, The Globe and Mail Bullfighting offers a series of rare and beautiful mid-life meditations. . . . With its chatty, in-the-pub style . . . you feel as though you are eavesdropping on each of these mens forbidden thoughts and fears. _Daily Express_ With the sparest materials Doyle snaps entire lives into sharp focus in a handful of pages, which is short fiction doing what short fiction does best. _The Times_ Shedding tears, eliciting laughs and revitalising the mundanity of everyday existence has long been Roddy Doyles finest suit. He delivers it [in Bullfighting ] in spades. _The List_ These stories pack a considerable cumulative punch, a resounding wake-up call to anyone who feels time running by too fast or the loss of meaning in their everyday lives and relationships. . . . The stories are much more powerful read together than on their own. . . . [They] have plenty of Doyles irreverent humour and language, too. _Irish Independent_ Product Description The men in Bullfighting are each concerned with loss in different ways - of their place in their world, of power, virility, love - of the boom days and the Celtic Tiger. 'The stories, his memories, were wearing out' the narrator of the title story thinks, 'and there was nothing new replacing them.' The stories move from classrooms to graveyards, local pubs to bullrings; featuring an array of men at their working day and at rest, taking stock and reliving past glories. In the first, 'Recuperation', a man sets off for a prescribed walk around his neighbourhood, the sights triggering memories and recollections of his wife, his children, his younger days. In 'Animals', George remembers caring for his children's many pets, his efforts to spare them grief when they die or disappear, looking, in the eyes of his wife, like a hero, like 'your man from ER'. But now his kids are reared and he's unemployed, and he's slowly getting used to that. 'Suffer. Your man Krugman said, when he asked how Ireland should deal with the next ten years. Well, this is George, suffering.' Brilliantly observed, funny and moving, the stories in Bullfighting present a new vision of contemporary Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and of the Irish middle-aged male confronting its new realities. A second collection of stories from the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Watch for Roddy Doyle’s new novel, Smile , coming in October of 2017 Roddy Doyle has won acclaim for his wry wit, his uncanny ear, and his remarkable ability to fully capture the voices and hearts of his characters. Bullfighting , his second collection of stories, offers a series of bittersweet takes on men and middle age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. Moving from classrooms to graveyards, from local pubs to bullrings, these tales of taking stock and reliving past glories feature men concerned with loss—of their place in the world, of their power, virility, health, and ability to love. "[No one] can match Doyle for the fluency with which he tacks back and forth between the hilarious and the heartbreaking." 'The New York Times Book Review Roddy Doyle has won acclaim for his wry wit, his uncanny ear, and his remarkable ability to fully capture the voices and hearts of his characters. Bullfighting, his second collection of stories, offers a series of bittersweet takes on men and middle age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. Moving from classrooms to graveyards, from local pubs to bullrings, these tales of taking stock and reliving past glories feature men concerned with loss'of their place in the world, of their power, virility, health, and ability to love A collection of stories set in modern Ireland explores a theme of loss, from a man who remembers his early family life while taking daily prescribed walks to a father who considers the impact of his children's pets