Out of the Blue

by Eddie Stack

These twelve stories by Irish writer Eddie Stack, recount the peculiar and amazing experiences that befall his native people, at home and abroad. In "Angels," Mr. Fine the eccentric chemist, reappears after a long hiatus and enchants the town with his violin. The dead arise to rewrite Irish history in "Ellie," when a recent immigrant to Ohio meets a widow long gone from Ireland. A donkey with an attitude hassles a small town in "Jack Ass Blues" and shakes the authority of Church and State. "Song for Angie" shuttles between Ireland and San Francisco, retracing through music, the lives of a church organist and her troubadour niece. In another tale, a foreign cabby ruffles local racists when he joins the town taxi rank. Love tests a champion Irish dancer in "Flying Visit," and the title story, "Out of the Blue," concerns of a mysterious funeral coming to Ireland from Chicago.



Surreal, naturalistic, cinematic, humorous and sometimes poignant: all styles intersect and play, often in a single tale. In this diverse and engaging collection, Eddie Stack takes us into worlds of magic and mystery, from which we emerge with a smile.

132 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Eddie Stack has received several accolades for his fiction, including an American Small Press of the Year Award, a Top 100 Irish American Award and Caomhnú Award. Recognised as an outstanding short story writer, he is the author of four collections of short stories: The West, Out of the Blue, Quare Hawks and Borderlines. He has also published HEADS, a novel, and The Irish, a collection of three novellas.

His work has appeared in literary reviews and anthologies worldwide, including Fiction, Confrontation, Whispers & Shouts, Southwords, Criterion, State of the Art: Stories from New Irish Writers; Irish Christmas Stories, The Clare Anthology and Fiction in the Classroom.

Stephen Windwalker of Kindle Nation wrote this about ’Derramore‘, a story from The West:

"Let me just say this: I've read dozens of novels and stories that found some way to pay homage to James Joyce over the years, but frankly there have been few of them that convinced me they had any real claim on the reference. Not so with 'Derramore.' Turbo Tracy's forgeries may not involve the uncreated conscience of his race, but this story, more than any that I've read in decades, put me in touch again with the best of Dubliners and some of the vignettes of Portrait and Ulysses, so much so that, when I finished reading the story and found the blurbs from the Times Book Review and other journals, I actually felt they were understated".

A natural storyteller, Eddie has recorded spoken word versions of his work, with music by Irish Martin masters Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. Mp3 audio stories are available on his website.
Eddie is currently working on a book about the culture and traditional arts of Doolin, County Clare. Slated for publication in 2014, it includes interviews and profiles of tradition bearers, features on storytelling, dancing as well as music and songs from Doolin. Readers will have access to a web site where they can listen to, and download, audio and video of the tradition bearers featured in the book.

Eddie Stack's books are available in print, and ebook format for Kindle, iPad, Nook and Kobo.

Reviews

[janet Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of Irish short stories with a wide range of themes relating to everything from angels, ghosts and phantom asses to a hard drinking Irishwoman living in the underbelly of San Francisco and a bunch of wasters working as extras in a Guinness commercial. All and all a very enjoyable and well-written collection of stories with such a wide range of interesting, colorful characters and themes that I was engaged through to the end.

[Felicity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stereotypical small-town Irish characters mostly stuck in the a 1960s time-warp, the kind of subjects parodied by Patrick McCabe. As with so many self-published works, this one shows the lack of copy-editing.

[Keith Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve short stories recounting the experiences of his native Irish people at home and abroad.

This is an interesting collection of quirky stories where the setting switches between Ireland and the US. What remains constant are the characters of Irish descent, snapshots of people’s lives where we drop in and drop out of the action with no preamble.

There are three very strong aspects to Stack’s writing. There’s the dry sense of humour that cuts through all the shorts. When the narrative asks for a suspension of disbelief (e.g. a talking donkey) his writing makes it believable. Second are the characters, the Irish nature remains strong whatever the setting. Finally is the dialogue which encompasses both the above points.

None of the twelve stories are weak, although there are several highlights. In Jackass Blues, a donkey wanders into town and hangs around, watching television until the owner gets fed up and wants the donkey gone. It takes refuge in a church but is eventually captured. Later it seems as if the donkey can talk…

Here’s an example of the writing from the opening paragraph:

During that slow, dark time between New Year and Lent, a black ass sauntered into town. Sleek as a seal, it had the fine features of a thoroughbred and moved gracefully through the streets with a confidence that its working class brethren lack.

The next story is Back in the Days of Corncrakes about a Guinness advert being filmed in a small Irish village. Some locals are roped in to act, but get drunk on free alcohol. It’s well written and funny.

In the final story Out of the Blue a couple from either side of the Atlantic who each believed the other dead are reunited after forty years.

This is a very well written, drily witty collection of short stories that will puzzle you and entertain you. The snapshot element of some of the stories may leave some readers wanting to know more, but this is quality writing.

**Originally reviewed for Books & Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**