Rating: 
Summary: A great read
Review: After reading so many gay fiction novels about perfectly pumped men with that plastic look about them, it was a welcome relief to read about actual people. I know guys like this, I grew up with some of them. Heck, I'm one of them. The stories touched me and moved me and made me think. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: A Writer of Astonishing Talent
Review: At a time when good short story writers are plenty, few tell a tale as vividly as J.G. Hayes. Point of fact, this book is a revelation. No, these are not the genteel stories your mom reads in Redbook and Ladies Home Journal beneath the humming dryer at the corner beauty parlor. Rather, these are pungent, sexy, heartbreaking renderings of young people---boys on the verge of becoming men mostly---who are wrestling against the undertow of their sexual desires. All of these stories are astonishing. One at least is a masterpiece. "When Jesus Came to Town" is the most vividly dramatic story I have read since first encountering the esteemed William Trevor. May this talented writer enjoy a career at least as long as Mr. Trevor. Bravo.
Rating: 
Summary: For What It is Worth
Review: Comparatively speaking, there are still limited choices on the market with regard to quality GLBT literature. Unfortunately, "This Thing Called Courage," turned out to be a major disappointment, as it is desperately lacking quality of substance that makes it worthwhile reading. Whenever a new gay author writes a book, many people openly accept it because it's gay rather than having something worthwhile to offer the readers; I believe this to be the case with this book.
These stories, a series of vignettes, that occur in "roughneck" South Boston seem to focus on every gay man's stereotypical fantasy of the seemingly straight guy and his first gay experience. This involves tough street kids, firemen and an ex-marine turned gym teacher. The author, JG Hayes, has a progressive writing style at best. His vocabulary is sometimes colorful, but combined with his unusual approach to grammar usage, capitalization issues, and overuse of parenthesis - this writing style quickly grows tiring after the fourth chapter. The vignettes in the first half of the book start out strong, almost believable, but somewhere along the line each story has a parochial twist that reduces the piece to fluff. I found myself feeling cheated at the end of every chapter when the big plot twist ended with one of the two men doing the "noble" thing to save the other's reputation. Above and beyond the lack of reality, the depth that each chapter works up to quickly diminishes with each turning page. The stories don't do anything to depict or promote courage as the title might lead one to believe. The young, always handsome, muscular protagonists in each story cower away from their sexual orientation and their acts of "courage" are nothing more than cowardice being portrayed as valor. Inevitably, each character runs back into the closet once their desires, which are portrayed as forbidden fruit, have been realized. The book is laden with dysfunctional behaviors and none of the characters grow beyond their superficial homosexual desires and immature notions about love and sex between two men. The second half of the book takes on "mystical quality" that seems to sway even further away from the ideas of courage and of South Boston. One chapter is a polluted, difficult to read, stream of consciousness at the funeral of a friend/lover. This offers the same plot of the protagonist having found his soul mate only to be kept away from attaining a true, loving relationship. Other chapters are plagued with the same banal attitudes about gay men, love and relationships. In one chapter, a former hustler achieved A-list status in his gay community because of his clichéd looks, attitude, and finely chiseled gym body. On Gay Pride Day, the central character experiences Dorian Gray-like physical changes of sprouting boils and having bad hair. When the chapter finally ends, our hot guy is back to being hot and he is left to think about his shallow existence in a Dickens-like fantasy of being visited by an angel. In general, this book does nothing to portray gay men as well-adjusted individuals. There are fragments of realty within some of the characters, but for the most part, the men are either frightened children who would murder their own sibling rather than admit to being gay, or they are images of formulaic unstable gay men who are incapable of having a significant relationship with another person. I wouldn't invest my time reading something as trite as this.
Rating: 
Summary: An Insipid and Generic Homosexual Fantasy!
Review: Containing risible imagery and erroneous demographics, the screed: 'THIS THING CALLED COURAGE: South Boston Stories' (c. 2002) by J.G. Hayes, contained a generic homosexual formula which could be applied to any blue collar neighborhood in the United States, and is nothing specific to South Boston. In fact, THIS THING CALLED COURAGE entailed no significant insights into South Boston, Massachusetts at all, and failed to render an accurate portrayal of growing up in Southie whether homosexual or heterosexual! Among the many glaring errors is the author's description of the "Gate of Heaven Cemetery" (p. 2) which has never existed in South Boston. Or the non-existant haircut, the "Regular Boy's Flattop" (p. 6) erroneously combining two styles into one (the 'Flattop' went out of style in the 1950s, and the 'Regular Boy's Haircut' is still being taught in Boston area barber schools). There are more amusing blunders to be found in THIS THING CALLED COURAGE as J.G. Hayes attempted to sound authentic by name-dropping (non)Southie locations such as: "Taft Street" (p. 28), which is in Dorchester; or "Sherman Street" (p. 120), which is in Roxbury; or "the corner of L and West Broadway [sic]" (p. 115) which do not intersect; or the vacuous claim: "We cleared out that Westside barroom ..." (p. 132), which is inane because there has never been a 'Westside' in South Boston! To the life-long South Boston resident, THIS THING CALLED COURAGE, has no recognizable Southie jargon, argot, slang, or neighborhood locations; and after reading this preposterous econium, I was left with the distinct impression that the author had never stepped foot in Southie in his life. Further, the author's stylistic eccentricities detract significantly from his work, as each chapter's obvious purpose is to lead into some kind of sordid encounter not necessarily related to South Boston. And frankly, reading about full grown men having sex with each other, or with underaged teenage boys, or committing suicide is revolting - and only emphasized the misanthropic nature of homosexuality. The phillipic, 'THIS THING CALLED COURAGE: South Boston Stories' by J. G. Hayes, attempted to sustain a homosexual fantasy at the expense of a traditional-family Boston neighborhood in absence of any symbolism, allegory, or credible demographics; and lacked the support of strong character development in a ridiculous attempt to take the reader on a sympathetic journey through any of the character's experiences.
Rating:
Summary: People like us. . . we get killed every day
Review: How often have you been blessed with this experience? You're walking along a book-strewn sidewalk, and a title or a cover photo catches your eye, and you pay the 25 cents, and you get on the bus and flip to a story, and God knows how much later you realize you've missed your stop because you're crying.
When it happened to me recently, I thought, Jesus, thanks a lot, Joe Hayes, no, really.
This collection of amazing stories came into my life through the appearance of one of its finest entries, "Regular Flattop," in Men on Men 2000, which indeed cost me a quarter. I fell in love with that story and immediately ordered a copy of This Thing Called Courage and dove in. More missed stops, more tears. Stepping off the elevator at work one day, I was confronted by the questioning eyes of my colleagues: They've seen my cry over a book before, but never one with a beefcake cover on it.
So much for the marketing of literature to gay men. There isn't a beefcake story in the bunch, and thank God. Instead, there is treasure. Stories about love and desire, about shame and grace, about betrayal and redemption. Stories that shook me.
Stories I wish I had read when I was a boy in my own roughneck corner of the world, falling in love with my best friend.
The published reviews of J.G. Hayes' stories have focused on the grittiness of the lives they portray - the lives of young men in a roughneck neighborhood who struggle, with various degrees of tragedy, to handle their love for other young men. We are left to wonder to what extent he is writing from memory. Some of these characters are very young, and dodge drunken mothers or drift along ignored by their elders. One is not so young, and accommodates a cold wife. One is stalked by his adoring sister, who ends up saving his life and telling his story. (Among many other impressive talents, Joe Hayes writes convincingly in the voice of a twelve-year-old girl.)
Fewer reviews note that these stories are animated by heart. Without a maudlin or false note, each one evokes a unique and precious life. Even the odious narcissist Peter Pillsbury, the character least likely to earn our sympathy, is a tragic figure, because Joe Hayes has let us in on what happened to him when he was seventeen.
Everywhere are bursts of brilliance. "My soul sprung a boner," young Joey tells his friend. "My hand that had touched you was... strong enough to dismiss... every yoked boy-girl couple joined at the hip or the hand or the mouth or the grinding groin parading unending before us."
And he takes outrageous risks. A talking squirrel gives a grieving boy his only comfort after his beloved friend's death. It works. Some of his characters make up their own idiosyncratic language. It works. Jesus comes to town in the person of an aged, European nun who is fired from her teaching position for insubordination. It works.
As others in this space have pointed out, Joe Hayes is a writer whose further work will be greeted with great excitement - and, indeed, his fans are thrilled to know that his novel is near completion. But don't wait for the novel, or the movie. Read these stories today.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Storyteller!
Review: I have just finished re-reading J.G. Hayes's new collection of short stories and I can't stop thinking about them. I'm excited; as though I've just discovered a wonderful secret. I feel like I've just read seven classic short stories in a league with Nathaniel Hawthorne, Carson McCullers, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
and Ferrol Sams to name a few. I mention these writers because they're great and they have disparate styles; and Hayes is both
great and disparate. The stories are all set in and around South Boston, an urban Irish-Catholic working-class neighborhood.
This is a connecting theme as is the awakening sexuality of the
young people in the stories. Most of them are coming to very
uncertain terms with their same sex attractions and the stories deal with how they cope with the overwhelming odds working against them. In "Regular Flattop" the death of a boy's father
causes him to reevaluate his circumscribed life and his feelings
for his best friend. "This Thing Called Courage" is the story
of a man who has to face a crippling betrayl. "Jimmy Callahan,
Married, Three Kids" is the tale of a fire-fighter who finds him-self drawn to a widowed co-worker and as a result he is questioning everything he knows about life. "Sister Bennett's Crystal Ball"
is a mystical story grounded in reality about the passions that
rage just beneath the surface of a group of friends. "The Rain"
is a tour de force story. The centerpiece of the collection.
It is exquistie, moving, thought provoking, sad, disturbing and
strangely elating. To tell too much would be to deprive the reader of an exciting experience. It is about the repercussions
of an event in the life of the narrator. Just read it. "Peter
Pillsbury's Pride Parade" is a Poe-like tale unlike the others in
the book. You won't be able to put it out of your head. The final story, "When Jesus Came To Town", is a wonderful story,
narrated by a twelve year old girl with a biting sense of humor who is trying to come to grips with her own personal demons. It's funny and sad and thought-provoking. All the tales in this collection are. And as I said, you won't stop thinking about the amazing characters you'll find here.
Hayes's prose is succinct yet vivid. It's truly cinematic. Actually, you can't help but see the stories unfolding as movies as you read them. In fact, I can't wait to see the movies that
could be made out of these stories! And I can't wait to see more
of Hayes's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Looking forward to his next book!
Review: I loved This Thing Called Courage, consuming it in one sitting.
J. G. Hayes' stories reflect the reality of many boys growing up in South Boston and other similar working class communities. The South Boston of the 60's and 70's was a tight knit, insular community characterized by significant poverty and a truly unforgiving code of street masculinity and Catholic sexual oppression. Boys had to be BOYS. If you were queer, you'd had better keep it a deep secret in such a homophobic place. That was often the only alternative because staying in Southie one's whole life was a given in many families. The authenticity of milieu and character in Hayes' stories is created by one who obviously experienced it first hand. Hayes KNOWS what he is writing about and you feel it from his words. Being an interested observer of Southie life, I find Hayes' "Southiespeak" prose and plots ring true, illuminating a shadowed facet of the culture I've often wondered about. The courage in these stories is that of young men who risk it all by reaching out in love to another man, knowing the consequences could easily devastate them. The apparent lack of "happily ever afters" reflects what was undoubtedly the experience of many who dared to be true to themselves, and certainly of those who never did... Hayes infuses these tales with a subtle spiritual understanding, deepening their meaning and resonance.
The spiritual instincts within his young characters are true (if nascent), belying the harsh and dogmatic claims to spirit drummed into them every Sunday at their neighborhood Catholic mass. Hayes has the generosity, however, to present the reader with an occasional priest or nun who understands the queer boy with deep compassion and acceptance. These unexpected acts of Grace lend mystery and hope to the sometimes bleak emotional landscapes one encounters in the book. Just about every boy in Southie fancies himself a jock, whether he's good at sports or not. So it's only natural that Hayes' characters are drawn as they are. That is the norm, albeit an oppressive one. The inner conflict that arises when one's dawning sexuality contradicts internalized masculine norms can be tortuous and lead to self-destruction, especially when one is deprived of alternative role models. I can't imagine there were too many out and proud masculine male couples in mid century South Boston to show the kids what is possible. I hope this book finds it's way into the hands of the young men who , even today, have only the faintest hope that their best buddy might be like them. We've all been there. To take the risk to find out is This Thing Called Courage.
Rating:
Summary: Such a Disappointment
Review: I ordered "This Thing Called Courage" and I couldn't wait to delve into it. Growing up gay in Southie is who I am, and I was excited to see and read a book that was so close to my heart. But the book was a MAJOR disappointment. I just want to share with everyone that the book is fiction, and I want to make it perfectly clear that this book is REALLY fiction. I don't feel that the writer did anything to capture the essence of growing up gay in South Boston. With exception to a few stereotyped actions and a spattering of local dialect, there is nothing about this book that would make it authentic "Southie." The one-dimensional characters and their utterly ridiculous exploits left me feeling embittered that a writer would use South Boston as his canvas and exploit the ideals of a working class neighborhood so negatively under the guise of "courage." However, regardless of the setting, I still believe that the book has very little to offer in terms of literary content. I found myself scanning past pages of repetitive rambling, "I am so ashamed of myself," and "I love you, but I can't have you," prose. The dire writing style makes the short stories in this book difficult to understand, and the lack of credibility with any of the plots is the reason I am suggesting that you avoid this book completely.
Rating:
Summary: Such a Disappointment
Review: I ordered "This Thing Called Courage" and I couldn't wait to delve into it. Growing up gay in Southie is who I am, and I was excited to see and read a book that was so close to my heart. But the book was a MAJOR disappointment. I just want to share with everyone that the book is fiction, and I want to make it perfectly clear that this book is REALLY fiction. I don't feel that the writer did anything to capture the essence of growing up gay in South Boston. With exception to a few stereotyped actions and a spattering of local dialect, there is nothing about this book that would make it authentic "Southie." The one-dimensional characters and their utterly ridiculous exploits left me feeling embittered that a writer would use South Boston as his canvas and exploit the ideals of a working class neighborhood so negatively under the guise of "courage." However, regardless of the setting, I still believe that the book has very little to offer in terms of literary content. I found myself scanning past pages of repetitive rambling, "I am so ashamed of myself," and "I love you, but I can't have you," prose. The dire writing style makes the short stories in this book difficult to understand, and the lack of credibility with any of the plots is the reason I am suggesting that you avoid this book completely.
Rating:
Summary: It Hits the Nail Right on the Head !
Review: I'm a former South Boston resident. I spent most of my life there. The author presents a clear picture of the South Boston of my youth. There existed a sense of community that could not be found elsewhere. To sum it up, without tremendous detail, whether gay or straight, the people took care of their own. I've traveled extensively for work and have lived in other parts of the country. I have yet to find a neighborhood where people are as tight as they are in Southie. South Boston has changed considerably in the past two decades. Although not as tight knit as the South Boston of my youth, the strong sense of community can still be found. In spite of the negative press of the mid 1970s, South Boston was a great place to be raised. Obviously, it has become trendy with the rest of the outside world as well. I miss it and would love to call it home again someday.
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