This Thing Called Courage: South Boston Stories

Rating:
Summary: An authentic voice
Review: I'm not as literary as the other reviewers here, but I just wanted to say that I _loved_ reading these stories. I hear Sout' Boston-ese around me every day, and J.G. Hayes writes it exactly as it's spoken. Growing up a gay teenager while managing to stay sane is not an easy thing. Some of Hayes' characters manage to deal with the confusion and pain we all feel, and just have to learn to deal with it. Others end up shamed, wasted and destroyed. Either way, I "got" them from the inside out. They're almost all great stories (actually you can skip "Peter Pillsbury"), but my favorite, "The Rain", is just an awesome, amazing, heart-wrenching piece of work. Overall the book is pissa, and I hope Mr Hayes publishes more stories like these.

Rating:
Summary: A thing of aching beauty
Review: I've lived in Boston for thirty years and have had more than a passing relationship with South Boston: tight-knit, tight-lipped, hard-edged, insular, fiercely protective of its own, fiercely loyal. So I was intrigued by the idea of a book of stories on "growing up gay in roughneck South Boston." But nothing could have prepared me for the profound emotional depth and clarity demonstrated by J. G. Hayes in his brilliant, electric collection. The writing envelopes you, pulling you deeper into the lives of his characters; quietly, deliberately, effortlessly. Descriptions of sky and grass conspire to lull you into a false sense of warmth and ease - in stark contrast to the relentless anxiety and heartache born by his protaganists. Mr. Hayes makes physically palpable the sense of a chill running down the spine in the midst of the heat of summer.
A favorite? They have a strangely cumulative effect. One reinforces the next. They have an undeniability about them that stopped me dead in my tracks each time. I want them all and then I want more.

Rating:
Summary: A thing of aching beauty
Review: I've lived in Boston for thirty years and have had more than a passing relationship with South Boston: tight-knit, tight-lipped, hard-edged, insular, fiercely protective of its own, fiercely loyal. So I was intrigued by the idea of a book of stories on "growing up gay in roughneck South Boston." But nothing could have prepared me for the profound emotional depth and clarity demonstrated by J. G. Hayes in his brilliant, electric collection. The writing envelopes you, pulling you deeper into the lives of his characters; quietly, deliberately, effortlessly. Descriptions of sky and grass conspire to lull you into a false sense of warmth and ease - in stark contrast to the relentless anxiety and heartache born by his protaganists. Mr. Hayes makes physically palpable the sense of a chill running down the spine in the midst of the heat of summer.
A favorite? They have a strangely cumulative effect. One reinforces the next. They have an undeniability about them that stopped me dead in my tracks each time. I want them all and then I want more.

Rating:
Summary: No-Holds-Barred Stories!
Review: J. G. Hayes has written seven stories here, six of which are as good as any I've read in a long time. The stories are all set in South Boston. Most of them are about boys on the verge of being adults who are experiencing sexual awakenings that the Catholic Church, their parents and society have told them are forbidden and shameful. These boys are tough and sometimes bullies. Some of them live in the projects; all are from blue-collar famillies. Their futures in general are bleak. If they survive, they will be forever scarred. For most of these young men, their happiness of loving completely another man lasts for just a moment. Sooner or later, they will die in South Boston.

Who can forget Jimmy Callahan, a fireman with three children, two boys and a fragile daugher, and a shrew for a wife? Jimmy has one night of love with another firefighter. "But under June's [the wife] watchful eye, it wasn't long before Jimmy was back leading the life that had been so carefully planned for him." The reader understands that Jimmy will attend mass every Sunday for the next 30 or 40 years, will never see his friend again and will die a broken, old man.

Then there is the narrator of the title story who has to live with what he has done to help ruin the life of his high school gym teacher who, unlike the narrator, showed great dignity and grace under pressure. You won't quickly forget either the homeless, crazed Joey who sleeps in a "washer machine box" and talks to squirrels. When you find out why he is crazy-- what happens to his beloved Kev in addition to Joey's homophobic parents-- his father thinks all gay people should be put on an island and then have an "A-Bomb" dropped on them-- he will break your heart.

Hayes is a powerful writer who is so good at what he does that you can almost hear his characters breathe with forbidden desire. In these stories, although you are on a roller coaster ride that you know will end in tragedy, you cannot put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: A Sustained Tour De Force
Review: J.G. Hayes' "This Thing Called Courage" is quite simply the boldest, most audacious debut in the past 25 years. Blazing new trails in gay literature, the seven stories contained within offer a thrilling glimpse into the lives of characters male, female, blue-collar, churchgoing and above all proud. These fire fighters, cops, repairmen, recent high school graduates and others are notable for their honesty, their struggles and their genuine voice. None of this would be possible if Hayes' powers as a narrator were weaker. I describe him as audacious deliberately. As a writer, I appreciate reading the work of an author who is growing, stretching and continuing to learn his craft. "This Thing" is not perfect, but I award it five stars deliberately. There is something glorious in the work of an author (like Hayes) who takes the big risks ("The Rain," more below, could have been a disaster, but is instead spectacular); I would rather read an author who reaches and sometimes misses the mark ("Peter Pillsbury's Pride Parade" does not hold up compared to other works in the collection) than one who never reaches at all (remember that Joyce sometimes reached and missed, Chekhov the same, Kafka the same, etc.). "This Thing" has an energy I don't encounter nearly enough in gay literature.

Specifically, I call the would-be reader's attention to Hayes' narrative voice and his willingness to break the rules. Hayes uses unusual punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure and word choice. I believe his choices have integrity, but they might not be for everyone. Hayes does nothing without purpose -- readers must keep that in mind as they approach this work. Hayes' sustains his voice and tone within each story and throughout the entire work.

Hayes is interested in the metaphysical relationship between redemption and despair. Many of his stories pivot on a single choice a character has to make. Sometimes positive, sometimes disastrously negative, always understandable (even though at times I wanted to slap one or another of his character's upside the head), these choices are ones to which we can all relate.

The most successful stories in the collection are:

"The Rain" -- words cannot describe the emotional depth, realism, bravery and honesty Joe Hayes brings to this story. It is a breathtaking work by an author whose powers are still in their youth. Sad, deeply sad but so very powerful. Read it and see for yourself.

"This Thing Called Courage" -- at the core of this story are two characters who have been lain waste by life and their choices. This is the most cinematic of Hayes' stories. Stunning.

"Regular Flattop," the most optimistic story in the collection by my read, features characters I can't help but love.

A note to the publisher: the cover for this book is odd indeed. This is about as far from the "beefcake" collection as can be; I fear that this cover may misrepresent what is inside. And honestly, why doesn't the cover stud have a shamrock tatoo? Did the cover artists read the stories?

Buy "This Thing" at once!

Rating:
Summary: talented and truthful
Review: J.G.Hayes has captured the epitome of what it is like to be gay and living in South Boston. As a one time resident, now living in Maine, I feel deeply for Hayes' characters. If ever a writer captures a moment with his descriptive words, Hayes does it and puts you right in the very room as his characters! The stories make you laugh and cry. An emotional rollercoaster. I can't wait for the fair to come back in town with another show!

Rating:
Summary: This Thing Called Courage has great humanity
Review: Joe Hayes has a gift for storytelling. Ostensibly, these short stories are about gay life in South Boston, a tough community of mostly Irish-Americans. He is anything but a 'gay' writer. The characters'lives transcend issues of sexual preference. Joe provides a poignant, deeply felt glimpse into the importance of loyalty & brotherhood and the price they may extract. He is a wonderful humanist with a enthralling literary voice filled with grit, humor and an unerring ear for the local patois of the denizens of "Southie". I am crazy about this collection of stories.

Rating:
Summary: What a Revelation!
Review: Literary world take note: JG Hayes has arrived and with his appearance comes a voice utterly honest and unique, a style that carries signature traits that are never cloying, never 'au courant', and never for self indulgent effect. This gifted man knows that elusive skill of storytelling, a skill that is sadly lacking from many better known authors writing in this country today. For the uninitiated, and for the sport of comparison, think Jamie O'Neill ('At Swim, Two Boys'), K.M. Schoelein ('The World of Normal Boys'), and other writers of equal dollops of skill and courage in writing about gay culture, but the comparisons don't stop there. I think Hayes has opened the door to the ranks of Richard Russo, Annie Proulx, Seamus Heaney, Flannery O'Connor, Frank McCourt, JD Salinger, James Joyce, and a throng of others whose voices are unique and timeless.

THIS THING CALLED COURAGE: SOUTH BOSTON STORIES is a rich collection of short stories and novellas that dare to explore a corner of the world that includes a re-evaluation of the macho South Boston Irish image of a 'normal' man, challenging the Catholic Church from a stance of a believer instead of a critic, articulating the wholeness of mental and physical response of young lads coming to grips with their longings/lusts/fears and scintillations/passions/joys of that first encounter with same sex love. A huge bit of information to relate and explore, but Hayes does so successfully in this extraordinary first novel.

For this reader the amazing contribution here is his ability to tell seven stories about South Boston people, give each of the stories its own vocabulary and flavor, keep the stories tied together by soft references to names in other stories within the collections that gives the sense of community to the book, and tells each tale through the eyes of distinctly varied characters from Irish gang members to sexually repressed young adult males, to little girls, to narcissistic gym boys, to the mentally disturbed. Yet even more unique in the field of coming of age/coming out novels, Hayes knows how to describe the strange mixture of dreamy desire, sexual arousal, and abject terror that accompanies first physical encounters whether those encounters be heterosexual or bisexual or homosexual. This writing could never be construed as pornographic: this is sensual, erotic, and yet amazingly pure feeling that all authors attempt, few succeeding because of word traps like 'member' or 'manhood' or 'enter' that act as clods in the path of writing about sexuality. These 'clods' never even come into view with Hayes' stories. He maintains the dignity of his characters while allowing us to sense their passions.

To isolate a portion of this collection as 'best' is not possible for this reader. THE RAIN stands with the finest of tales about the various etiologies of mental illness (or reactive madness) in a completely credible manner. WHEN JESUS CAME TO TOWN slowly unfolds a richly charactered story as related by a cunning little sister with the courage to travel the tightrope of love for two brothers and the discovery of a family secret that threatens alienation from parents and church and the world at large. It is a graceful, tightly integrated story that ends this treasure trove book with lingering food for thought. Personal favorites will arise for the reader of JG Hayes: I was captivated with the title story (THIS THING CALLED COURAGE) and with JIMMY CALLLAHAN, MARRIED, THREE KIDS and REGULAR FLATTOP. I am left in deep admiration for this gifed writer and eagerly await his next book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED reading for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Irish Boys, Heartbreaking Loss, Redemption, etc.
Review: The first time I came across a story by J.G. Hayes was in the anthology "Men on Men, 2000" a collection of the best in new gay fiction. That story, "Regular Flat-top", which is also in the new book, is among the most emotional, gut-wrenching stories (gay or straight) I have ever read.

Even appearing in a collection containing work by well known and influential authors, Hayes' story sizzled with a heartbreaking authenticity.

"Regular Flat-top" follows the thoughts of a poor, tough, irish kid from the housing projects of South Boston as he grieves for his lifelong boyhood friend, dead from suicide after they stumbled through their first and only homosexual encounter. In a self contained world like Southie, both Catholic and working-class, there is no place for the only love these tough, down-trodden, beautiful boys have ever felt.

The almost overwhelming adolescent pain, the agonizing regret, the unfathomable unconsolable loss of something that SHOULD have been... The author brings it all together and still gives us a radiant ending full of redemption and hope. This is masterful storytelling.

Other stories that stand out in this collection are: "This Thing Called Courage", "The Day Jesus Came To Town", and what must be Hayes' masterpiece; "The Rain"

"The Rain" is one of only two stories which have EVER made me cry. (The other is Jamie O'Neil's "At Swim, Two Boys.")
To say that "The Rain" is an inspired and overwhelming story would be an understatement. The themes of loss, regret, of tender love springing up in the most unlikely soul-killing environments, all of which are explored in "Regular Flat-top", are here taken to the highest pinacle a short-story can reach. Buy the book if only for this story alone! It could come to be recognized as one of the best short stories in gay fiction ever. (How's that for going out on a limb?)

These are all good stories, one or two of them great, in my opinion. South Boston, with it's home-grown pride and its Irish toughness and unexpected tenderness, proves to be a fertile garden ripe for the storyteller's art. I hope this is only the first collection of many from a great storyteller who trasforms Southie into an almost mythical neighborhood where wonderful and magical stories are born.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome a brilliant new voice in gay fiction
Review: This is a collection of short stories from the previously unpublished author J.G.Hayes. They all derive from the experience of growing up gay in South Boston - a predominantly working-class Irish Catholic section of the city. Like all good writing the stories reflect off of each other and reveal a collective strength of vision which is unique and powerful. Common themes in these stories are the fragility of love, the proximity of death, and the unexpected intrusion of the magical. The author is especially adept at coveying the emotional vertigo of growing up gay - it's dangers and joys. Most of the stories sent shivers down my spine. His remarkable story The Rain is especially haunting. My only reservation about the collection is the author's occasional lapses into didactic prose - but the emotional resonance of the whole more than compensates. Mark Twain I think once said that the greatest praise for an author is to ask what work he will be publishing next, and that's just how I feel with this book - I look forward to reading more from this author.