The Meat Eaters

by Michael Collins

Michael Collins's stories are about Ireland, about the Irish as they are and as they would like to be imagined. In the title story we see the fatal consequences of self-deception. Posing as a nationalist hero, a young man travels to America with a suitcase full of meat. The warm welcome he expects swiftly dematerialises as he awakes to the grim realities of life in hiding. The vivid, surreal splendour of the writing allied with images of real people - the struggling widow, the careless father, the schoolboy and the philosopher, the good and the corrupt - make this an outstanding collection.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)Irish Novelist

Michael Collins was born in 1964. He was educated in Belfast, Dublin and Chicago. His short stories have been awarded the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Award in Ireland and the Pushcart Prize in America.

Reviews

[Keith Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Joyce described Ireland as 'the old sow that eats its farrow' and in this collection of short stories Michael Collins explodes every romantic green tinged myth about 'the oul' sod'. Every cliche is fair game to a satirical expose which is so raw and razor sharp it draws blood. We read of corrupt and murderous Irish-Americans (The meat eaters), botched IRA bombing missions and their consequences (The butcher's daughter), Atlantic coast cottage society (The man who dreamt of lobsters), and a dark Dubliners pastiche (The Enemy). The theme of butchers and butchery pervades every story reaching an apogee of almost unreadable violence in The Dead, the story of a Republican punishment squad's treatment of a suspected informer and traitor. A further theme which pervades every story is that of the corruption of youth by older men and women. There are almost no sympathetic adult characters in the collection, all of whom pass on their failings and inadequacies to the next generation. A bleak, black collection, then, where any laughs are those with which we attempt to ward off horror.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Safe to assume this collection of short stories is not endorsed by the Irish Tourist Board. Collins is a fine writer drawn to the grim side of life. He finds plenty of that to showcase in his home country. Gangsters, negligent fathers, suicide bombers, abused women, a minor league drug peddler in trouble with his bosses, a crippled adolescent humiliated by his peers, and IRA punishment killing, a loner shop assistant walking the nighttime streets of Dublin, and a paedophile. What's not to love about the land of saints and scholars? Vivid prose - often close to sickeningly so; and suffering spelt out so clearly it is hard not to respond emotionally.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories were all fairly easy to get into but some of the monologues rambled a bit. The prose was very good but the dialogue occasionally seemed a bit thin. All of the stories were fairly dark, unpleasant or sad. None of the stories ended happily. One story contained a very graphic description of a man being tortured and killed which made me feel physically sick and wish that there were violence warnings on books.

[Alan Daly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad. Not great either.