The Donkey Show (Commonplace Jernt)

Rating:
Summary: Thro me somtin' mista!
Review: I met Patrick one day on the couch of his girlfriend's neighbor's house, where in a galaxy of artful minds and conversations he only stood out as the new guy. We didn't get a chance to become friends. He was just settling in while I was moving on. After reading The Donkey Show I wish I had had that chance.
The narrative is charged with the schizophrenic energies of New Orleans; poverty, wealth, wealth in poverty, poverty in wealth. Every time something good happens you're waiting for the other shoe to fall. Every time tragedy strikes look around the corner for the city to resurrect joy from pain. The book tells you, and reminds me, what its like to arrive in New Orleans a foreigner, minority, cautiously excluded, and cautiously welcomed. Patrick teaches at a public school in New Orleans and of all the pregnant tales, tells the reader the lessons he learned from his students, and by inference ones he didn't. He serves fancy meals at a fancy restaurant while his first Mardi Gras rolls by right in front of him, and lets us in on the wait staff rantings with its defacto race, sex, and gender politics. He falls in love and finds his way, for now. Sadly he doesn't tell us if he ever made it back to Costa Rica, but at the end of the book he gives you his email address so you can just drop him a note and ask.
While despairing to impart the simplest of instructions Patrick tells his writing students to 'review the content.' I did my best. The last time I saw Patrick he was sitting on his bike with his girlfriend on his lap waiting for the next parade to roll down Canal Street. The Donkey Show tells some of Patrick's story, but there's a lot more to it, and I'd love to hear more.

Rating:
Summary: Thro me somtin' mista!
Review: I met Patrick one day on the couch of his girlfriend�s neighbor�s house, where in a galaxy of artful minds and conversations he only stood out as the new guy. We didn�t get a chance to become friends. He was just settling in while I was moving on. After reading The Donkey Show I wish I had had that chance.
The narrative is charged with the schizophrenic energies of New Orleans; poverty, wealth, wealth in poverty, poverty in wealth. Every time something good happens you�re waiting for the other shoe to fall. Every time tragedy strikes look around the corner for the city to resurrect joy from pain. The book tells you, and reminds me, what its like to arrive in New Orleans a foreigner, minority, cautiously excluded, and cautiously welcomed. Patrick teaches at a public school in New Orleans and of all the pregnant tales, tells the reader the lessons he learned from his students, and by inference ones he didn�t. He serves fancy meals at a fancy restaurant while his first Mardi Gras rolls by right in front of him, and lets us in on the wait staff rantings with its defacto race, sex, and gender politics. He falls in love and finds his way, for now. Sadly he doesn�t tell us if he ever made it back to Costa Rica, but at the end of the book he gives you his email address so you can just drop him a note and ask.
While despairing to impart the simplest of instructions Patrick tells his writing students to �review the content.� I did my best. The last time I saw Patrick he was sitting on his bike with his girlfriend on his lap waiting for the next parade to roll down Canal Street. The Donkey Show tells some of Patrick�s story, but there�s a lot more to it, and I�d love to hear more.

Rating:
Summary: Really cool book!
Review: I picked this up at a book fair for my husband and after reading the first few pages, just had to finish it for myself. The writing is unique and captivating, the story unpredictable, and the characters compelling. "The Donkey Show" book is both funny and touching. Both my husband and I loved it. We are looking forward to more from Welch.

Rating:
Summary: An author to keep your eye on
Review: The Donkey Show marks the beginning of a great new literary voice. Michael Patrick Welch has crafted a novel full of mirth, pathos, and love. Truly, I haven't had this much fun reading a book in a long while. The story unfolds over the course of one year in New Orleans in which we follow the main character as he struggles to keep body and soul together long enough to experience his first Mardi Gras. Along the way he encounters a large cast of misfits, thugs, and genuinely likable characters that propel the reader from one adventure to the next. It finally all comes together at Mardi Gras, and what follows cannot properly be described here. You'll have to read it for yourself, and you really should. No first novel should be this good. I'm jealous, and I'll be watching the shelves for his next book.