Danny Gospel [Kindle Edition]

David Athey (Author)

Book Description

A riveting quest for true love, capturing the journey of a wounded soul toward hope restored. Perfect for readers of Charles Martin or Dale Cramer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unusual faith-based novel explores pain and redemption through the eyes of Daniel David McGillicuddy (or Danny Gospel as he is known), a mentally disturbed Iowa mail carrier with a cross-shaped scar on his chest. All but his older brother in the singing Gospel Family have died, and when not delivering the mail, Danny wanders farm fields or meanders through his memory. Athey portrays much of Danny's current life as a long hallucination, punctuated with lucidity and remembrances of a tragic but loving Christian childhood. As he slips into deep trouble—a barroom brawl, a job loss, a faith healing that backfires—Danny must flee his Iowa home where all the stories make sense. His friend Grease, a mechanic with a penchant for strip clubs, helps Danny escape in a pink Cadillac to Palm Beach, Fla., where he takes up with a ragtag group in a condemned building, composes music and writes his memoirs. Then suddenly, Danny returns to Iowa for a family event, picking up a group of eggnog-sipping old ladies on the way. As Alice in Wonderland would say, curiouser and curiouser. Although Athey, an English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic College, is an imaginative writer, confused readers may be left scratching their heads. (Apr.)
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Review

"... an amazing debut.... part coming of age, part adventure, part love story, part triumph and part tragedy." -- Gina Holmes, novelreviews.blogspot.com

"...David Athey has penned an evocative tale...it embodies the tragedy and hope characteristic of any human being's life any human being's life..." -- Amy Welborn

"...an extraordinarily readable book featuring an unusually fascinating character." -- Dallas Morning News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1503 KB
• Print Length: 270 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0764204440
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002P67R1W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,127 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Holy Fool May 6, 2008

By elena maria vidal

Format:Paperback

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we without honour." 1 Corinthians 4:10

In few novels does a character come so close to an incarnation of the words "fool for Christ" as does Daniel David McGillicuddy, the hero of David Athey's debut novel "Danny Gospel." Danny has lost everything, his family, his home, his bride, his sanity, and his respectability. He has been stripped of everything except his faith, which feeds both his innate kindliness and his joy, a joy which the world cannot give or take away. He is a bit like the "Holy Fools" of the Russian Orthodox tradition, a living contradiction to the world, and the often unwitting vehicle for salvific graces.

Constantly seeking the elusive state he calls "normal and happy," it becomes quickly obvious to the reader that while Danny may have moments of happiness in his life he will never be "normal." The Gospel-singing Iowa farm family in which he was raised, although idealized by memory and bitter loss, was anything but normal. One tragic accident causes "the Gospel family" to unravel, leading to death and dispersal. Danny is left alone, except for a few faithful friends; his guilt over the original fatal mishap contributes to his trauma.

For Danny is truly emotionally troubled; the story is told from his point of view and it is not always clear when he is hallucinating and when he is lucid. It is difficult not to become mesmerized by the peculiar twists of Danny's thought processes. His tendency to pursue every dream and impulse leads him upon an odyssey across America. His adventures at last bring him full circle, to the moment when being "normal and happy" are once again within his grasp.

However, Danny is uniquely marked by the cross. He longs for the days when his family proclaimed the Gospel through their music. Danny is called to share the Gospel on a deeper level, the level of abasement, of humiliation, of being a stranger and pilgrim on the earth. Lyrically written, "Danny Gospel" vivifies the scents and sounds of Iowa farms and towns, with characters who are distinctly Midwestern and prosaically salt-of-the-earth. Danny shines among them like a prophet of old, pointing the way to another and better world, saving his life by losing it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Literary Novel May 16, 2008

By C. C. Blunt

Format:Paperback

A good literary novel takes you to places you've never been (literally and figuratively). You discover new things about the world, and about yourself. Danny Gospel does this to the Nth degree, and I highly recommend it.

Danny's happy family and world have collapsed around him, and he seems to have been left with nothing but a couple of friends. Slowly, gradually, seeing and reflecting on the world through Danny's eyes, we piece together all that has brought him to this point. With masterful narration and beautiful prose, Danny leads us deeper into his family and his inner life, and we accompany him as he tries to put the broken pieces together.

Though there is much sadness and tragedy in the story, I found it to be increadibly uplifting at the same time. Most of us, like Danny, just want a "normal happy life," with a spouse and children and maybe a nice place in the country --- but there's always something that keeps us from getting there. The story led me to reflect on how better to keep my own inner peace while trying to find the elusive "normal happy life." And Danny Gospel is an excellent illustration of something else: there is seldom a Disney-style "happily ever after" in real life --- but even a life marked with tragedies and disappointments can still be full of joy and peace.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Utter Magnificence April 2, 2008

By The set of all sets that are not self listing

Format:Paperback

This is not like any "christian fiction" that you have ever read. That is a good thing. It is a novel that desserves serious attention, and one that you can read multiple times, still getting more and more out of it.

I'm still working through it (i.e., thinking about it). But I think that I can say this: Danny Gospel is the story of a person desparate to find answers in a nonsensical world in which his experience doesn't match his faith, and his faith doesn't match his experience. But he doesn't want to give up either.

The plot, then, is to follow Danny as he hopes to bump into the truth.

Get ready to have your mind and heart challenged (and your hopes raised). You'll fall in love with the characters, and try, with them, to make sense of strange chronology, flashbacks, memories, fears and hopes. As Athey writes, you will find yourself trying to figure out the total picture with Danny. Think about the symbolism. Think about the literary figures your college professor talked about (you'll wish you had been taking notes)

And the writing...is utterly beautiful. While athey makes a great intellectual novel, he also has created a thing of immense beauty. It is pure pleasure to read.

Put the other book down - that one where you know what will happen in the end before you finished the first page. Pick up Danny Gospel.

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