Doyle, Roddy. BULLFIGHTING. (2011). ***.
I’ve followed Doyle’s writing from his early days with “The Committments,” “The Van,” and his Booker Prize winning “Paddy Clarke, Ha, Ha, Ha,” and was always pleased with the experience. This book, his latest collection of short stories was a disappointment. There are thirteen short stories here that all feature a man of middle age. He’s at the point in life where he thinks as much (or more) about the past than the present and future combined. He has made a list of his past mistakes and flagellates himself over them. He seeks activities that will use up his time that consists of his new freedom; freedom from young children; freedom from lots of the inexplicable urges that bedevil younger men. Where Doyle tries to inject humor into his stories, it usually comes out in an obviously forced manner. I get the feeling that Mr. Doyle is using his writing as a way of working his way through his own mid-life crisis. In spite of all these comments, the writing is still vibrant. It’s just that you can’t expect to be able to sit down and read this book at one sitting. Recommended.