Chasing Danny Boy: Powerful Stories of Gay Celtic Eros

by Mark Hemry, Jack Fritscher, Neil Jordan

CHASING DANNY BOY: POWERFUL STORIES OF GAY CELTIC EROS Featuring NEIL JORDAN, Oscar Winner: The Crying Game and JACK FRITSCHER, Winner, Best Fiction. New voices dare to break the ancient silence. DUBLIN. New Storytellers reveal the erotic sizzle under the Irish skin. BOSTON. Wherever in the wide diaspora of the world the Irish are, the millions of them are in your culture, your music, and, likely, in your genes. CHICAGO. This dazzling collection of new stories tears down the lace curtains of sentiment and stereotype. NEW YORK. Brilliant, fresh young writers shout out the hidden homoerotic literature of Irishmen everywhere in the world: ancient romantic warriors to mythic Dublin punk/boyz. LONDON. "Style rules in this entertaining, funny, often experimental, always bright and brilliant new writing!" Gay storytelling is, at heart the truly hidden literature of Irish Culture. After The Crying Game, the Irish homosexual deserves the UnZipped Prose of these Independent Original Stories that reinvent Irish iconography and sexuality: no shamrocks, no mercy. This anthology cuts to the inclusive quick of Irish Roots. Celts? Druids? Punks? New Age? Hollywood and most everyone fantasizes about the life, music, and sensuality of the Emerald Isle! Everyone's a wee bit Irish, so kiss your multicultural roots hello, because the Gay Gene Itself may be Irish!

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason this anthology gets two stars are because of the P P Harnett story - it is brilliant - just like everything else he has ever written (seriously if you haven't already I recommend you get any of his brilliant novels asap) - but otherwise, well maybe the Neil Jordan story, this is a collection of jerk off stories - there is nothing wrong with that I was expecting something more - to be honest I ordered it without due care so the disappointment is really my fault but let my experience be a warning to you buy carefully.

[Kurtie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of gay Irish short stories by eight writers from Ireland, Great Britain, and the United States. Not a spectacular collection. Neil Jordan's piece seems to be thrown in for the cache of a big name author.
Strengths: Bob Condron's Visions of Sean. Most touching story in the collection. Also, Michael Wynne's contribution.
In general, not a great collection. Seems like a typical gay stories, sex infused, against an Irish backdrop.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those of us that are lucky enough to live through our childhoods still bear the scars of what we experience there. More scars may be added as we come into our own and learn to accept ourselves for what we are. Some never make it that far. The viewpoints of the folks shown in this collection pretty much cover the spectrum. In a country where sodomy was a jail-able offense until 1993, these stories published in 1999 still show the fresh wounds. Some like Michael Wynne's Loman and Puppydogs' Tales are pretty upbeat but others like Neil Jordan's Last Rites are just deadly depressing. Overall its a mixed bag and I'm glad to have finished the survey but don't think I'll be digging into a second volume of Irish Gay short stories anytime soon. Many of the writers here are unquestionably talented but the overall mood of the collection is just too drear.

If one knows or cares about someone who's lived through this country at the time, it may well be an invaluable read but a casual reader will probably find these tales just a bit too dark.

In the spirit of full disclosure, this book is subtitled Stories of Celtic Eros and there is a good deal of sex depicted but for the most part it's NOT written so as to titillate.

[betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gay-themed Irish supposedly erotic short stories by a variety of writers. Some were better than others, some were "meh." Interesting variety. I liked the little "slang glossary" before each tale, lol.

[nothinghereanymore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was honestly surprised at how good the stories were. I don't usually read short stories, but most of these were very compelling. I completely recommend this compilation to anyone that likes this genre.

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

high brow gay porn for those with an emerald fetish. But oh, is it good writing. Mostly.

[pjr8888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

17 stories of "celtic eros"