Whisky for Breakfast

by Christopher P. Mooney

The thirty-five stories in Mooney’s debut are dominated by a cast of characters who colour outside of society’s lines. They are hustlers, prostitutes, addicts, gangsters, killers, thieves, beasts. They are the dangerous, the lost, the lonely, the sick, the suicidal, the broken-hearted. Men and women, defeated by life. Their depravity is real, yet the writing in this uncompromising collection of transgressive fiction, always carefully crafted, evokes the sense that their humanity is not yet lost. In Whisky for Breakfast, nothing is off limits.

Genres: Short Stories

172 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2020

About the author

Pushcart-Prize nominee Christopher P. Mooney (He/Him/His) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1978. At various times in his life he has been a paperboy, a trolley boy, a greengrocer, a supermarket cashier, a shelf stacker, a barman, a cinema usher, a carpet fitter's labourer, a leaflet distributor, a foreign-language assistant and a teacher. He currently lives and writes in a rented house near London.

His debut collection of short transgressive fiction, Whisky for Breakfast, is available now from Bridge House Publishing. His debut collection of poetry, STARK RAVING NAKED, is available now from Naked Cat Lit Mag.

Reviews

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 3 out of 5]

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A very honest and unusual collection of 35 short stories. Every story features characters that don't quite fit the world's mould in today's society. In a time when we are used to reading about the perfect characters, Whisky For Breakfast offers us characters with the perfect flaws.

Not all of the stories were to my taste. The rating is made by me giving each story a rating from 1 to 5 and the calculating the average score.

Each story is different, but they all showed a lot of emotion. Because of the amazing writing, I could almost feel what a character was feeling. Some of the stories were too explicit or too disturbing for my taste. For instance "Where Crocodiles Sleep" and "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" were an examples of this. However, there were far more stories that I really enjoyed. "Drown Your Sorrows" was short, sweet, sinister and straight to the point. And "Nine Tenths of the Law" really intrigued me and grabbed my attention. I loved how the story was gamified in "See No Evil". I remember counting more somethings (trying not to reveal anything) than the characters mentioned and feeling very smug about it, until the answer was shared later on. I quite enjoyed being proven wrong, and that doesn't happen often. :) Another story that really stood out for me was "Mr. Harrison", because of its spookiness.

To sum up, I am very glad I read this book and still can't believe it took me so long. Funnily enough, shorter books tend to scare me more than big books. Whisky For Breakfast is a mix of stories, all set to provide a different, more sinister side to character we're not so used to seeing. Be ready to get out of your comfort zone and leave your judgements on the side, and you're in for a treat!

[Suzan Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This smart, thought-provoking & engrossing collection of short stories is unique and very well-written, with in-depth characters, examining the gritty underbelly of life. Read my full review at:

https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2021/...

[Gary Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher P. Mooney writes about loners and losers, about people on the fringes and those left behind. His characters are lost and broken, hard men and tough women often trying but failing to do the right thing. The writing is precise and uncompromising, and always surprising. “I love the smell of his hydraulics,” says the narrator of “Animism”, a defiant mechaphile who is sexually attracted to motor bikes. The thirty-five stories in this dazzling debut collection drag you out of your comfort zone and stay with you long after you have read them.

[Paula R C R. C. Readman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of thirty-five short stories of various lengths held my attention and kept me turning the pages. A cast of colourful characters from the outer edges of society introduced themselves to me. What I found interesting was how the author Chris introduces a few new ways of telling his tales, too.
A few of the stories got me wanting to know more about the characters, but over all a great selection to dip into if you are on a long journey or like me, enjoy reading before bedtime.