Customer Reviews

Chasing Danny Boy : Powerful Stories of Celtic Eros

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Sizzling stories about gay life in the Emerald Isle. These authors have been there and know their stuff! The stories run the gamut from romantic to hot, hot, hot!

Chasing Danny Boy is a wonder of a book!This collection of short stories is that rare thing- the combination of intelligent and steamy.The settings of the stories range from modern Dublin, to the mythic past, including some with Irish-American settings and people. Many aspects of the (now) global gay culture are represented.The characters range in age from late teenagers with other teenagers, to men in their forties. There are decorative sketches at the beginning of each story, and brief biographies of each writer.Every time I re-read this book I am startled again, at how very good it is.

This collection of Irish and Irish-American fiction shocked me because it is so brilliantly written. It's also hot. Finally, the Irish come out of the closet. None of these stories--t'anks be-- are stage Irish stereotypes, and there is no sentimental "How Are Things in Gloccamora"--more like "How Are Things In (Sodom and) Gomorrah." Actually, the sex is tasteful, and so arousing Irish papers probably will not review this book, dismissing it as gay, when in fact it's more Irish than they will admit. The cover photo of famed Irish-Brit brat-pack author PP Hartnett is worth framing. Inside, thumbnail glossaries help the Yankee tourist out-on-the-slum with the bits of history and a couple o' Irish words used. If "Chasing Danny Boy" can be this much fun, then what fun "Catching Danny Boy" could be--only there ain't one, but if there were a sequel, that could be its title. I only wish my experience in Temple Bar in Dublin was what it is in the wonderful title story. And God bless that Irish jewel, Neil Jordan, for supporting this important book--without his name on the cover, I might have missed this collection. I'LL NEVER SING "DANNY BOY" AGAIN WITHOUT THINKING OF THIS BOOK THAT REVEALS THAT SONG'S PANTING SUBTEXT!

I liked reading this book here in America because it revealed that lesbians and gays exist in Ireland and that same-sex encounters in Ireland can be as exciting as anywhere else. The stories about our warrior past are as interesting as the present-day stories of life in Dublin. The writing is excellent and the book has beautiful graphic designs based on our Book of Kells. The stories are about pretty boys, drag queens, and the kind of leathermen and bears who belong to LUBE in Dublin. I'd appreciate a volume 2 for reading on my return trip.

Danny Boy loves to be chased. The stories in this collection are wonderful, sensitive, and hot. Celtic storytelling meets gay culture--two things that have never before been between two covers. (Shame on the denial of lesbigay life in modern Irish books like "Finbar's Hotel," "Angela's Ashes," and even "The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories.") "Chasing Danny Boy" is joyous-fresh reading for any Irish man or woman who feels alone in the closet, as well as for any American Yank who is Irish, or is thinking about traveling to Ireland for a night out in Dublin to look for your lost cousins. Controversial, yes, and for all that all the more fascinating. I couldn't put it down.