By Eddie Stack
4.5 Stars - 5 Review*
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Praise for Eddie Stack's writing:
“Variously fantastic, comic, elegiac and nostalgic, Mr. Stack’s fiction
is versatile and engaging...a vivid, compassionate, authentic voice...
securing (him) a place in the celebrated tradition of his country’s
storytelling.” — New York Times Book Review
“There’s a genuinely wild and fugitive comic sense –– that
puts one in mind of Myles na Gopaleen as much as the salt spume
dam, George Makay Brown. Never sentimental, often funny, always
accurate, this is pithy, finely tuned writing of a high order.” — The Observer
Here's the set-up:
Seven short stories set in the West of Ireland. From the opening tale, "Time Passes," to the final story, "Derramore," these pieces reveal the soul of a community--its hopes, dreams and schemes.
In The West, fatalism and possibility run side by side, the Otherworld is as near as the Church--the double focus of the Irish.
With storyteller intimacy, Eddie Stack evokes life in a series of almost cinematic prose portraits of people, places and situations. The stories are smooth, each one remarkably different, but they click together to form a pattern. With its wit, originality and sensitivity, The West stands in the best tradition of Irish writing.
Reviewers Said:
Editor's Note: The West garnered three 5-Star reviews, one 4-Star review, and one 3-Star, the latter illustrating an issue one hopes Amazon might someday fix. Reviewer 5 docked the book stars because of formatting issues, but praised the content and stories. For many ebooks in the Kindle Store, reviewers often penalize over formatting issues and, more often, price complaints. The quality of the tale, sadly, loses stars to price tags and format issues.--TD
"Eddie Stack's stories from the West of Ireland received enthusiastic and well deserved praise from the New York Times upon their publication. This is a collection of timeless, original and heartfelt work from a writer who should be better known, not only by those interested in Ireland but by all readers of good contemporary fiction."
"Discovered this author on an indie Kindle site, and downloaded this collection on a whim. It's as advertised, quite captivating and presented in a clear, clean voice. I had the good fortune to spend a little bit of time in Ireland many years ago, and it brought back memories. I'll be checking out more of Mr. Stack's work."
"Variously fantastic, comic, elegiac and nostaligic, Mr. Stack's fiction is versatile and engaging...a vivid, compassionate, authentic voice...securing (him) a place in the celebrated tradition of his country's storytelling."--New York Times Book Review
“There’s a genuinely wild and fugitive comic sence in these tales that puts one in mind of Myles na Gopaleen as much as the salt spume dam, George Makay Brown. Never sentimental, often funny, always accurate, this is pithy, finely tuned writing of a high order.”--Robert Carver, Observer (UK)
These are beautiful, timeless stories about an Ireland that is left behind as its citizens emigrate to America or shuttle back and forth to England to find work. The characters come alive as the dialogue tumbles out of the pages to show us a strange, innocent world where storytelling, drinking, dancing, religion, revolution, fairies, family loyalties and class differences make up the fabric of daily life.
About the Author:
His work is included in State of the Art: Stories from New Irish Writers; Irish Christmas Stories, The Clare Anthology and Fiction in the Classroom.
His stories have also appeared in literary reviews Fiction, Confrontation, Whispers & Shouts and Criterion. Stories from The West have been read on radio worldwide and a CD of four stories read by the author, with music by Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill is also available. His collection of stories, Out of the Blue, was published in Spring 2006. He recently won the Caomhnu Award for short fiction published his novel Heads, which is included in MediaBistro's Best eBooks of 2010 List.
Eddie Stack was co-founder and artistic director of the Irish Arts Foundation in San Francisco. He was a member of the Irish trade group Last Night's Fun with Tommy Peoples, Paddy Keenan, Johnny Moynihan and the late Shane Holden. He is currently working on a book about the culture and traditional arts of Doolin, County Clare. Due out in 2011, the book includes interviews with Micho Russell and Paddy Shannon as well as profiles on the Russell and Killoughery brothers. It has features on storytelling, dancing as well as music and songs from Doolin.
For more information: www.eddiestack.com
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