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Map of the Harbor Islands
A Map of the Harbor Island is the long-awaited novel from J. G. Hayes, the critically acclaimed bestselling author of This Thing Called Courage and Now Batting for Boston. This book charts the turbulent life courses of two South Boston friends, Danny O'Connor and Petey Harding, from their childhoods through their adult lives. "Golden Boy" Petey has it all going for him - brains, charisma, and his close friendship with Danny. Then an accident on the baseball field changes everything. Petey wakes from a coma a different person, completely changed from the boy Danny knew and loved. When Petey confesses that he is gay, it sends Danny on an odyssey he never dreamed could happen.
389 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 30, 2011
If I could give more than 5 stars, I would. It's difficult to put into words how much I loved this book. It's a wonderful story of friendship and love, of discovering and accepting who you are, of finding your place in the world. Danny and Petey are amazing characters, very different but connected by a friendship that encounters bumps on its ride but never really waves. Petey used to be a Golden Boy, straight As, great at sports, destined to a great future. An accident changes him but while to most people in his town he is now a subject of pity, Petey looks instead at life with new eyes, opening his heart to what really matters and taking his best friend with him through a journey that will enrich Danny and help him find the courage to be himself. Petey is an unforgettable character, larger than life. No other character has ever touched me as much as he did in this book. If I had to quote his best lines, those would occupy pages and pages. His stories and his way of living are a lesson to take and cherish.
This is a book that I will certainly read again and again. The author did an amazing job in depicting the coming of age of two friends, divided by life and circumstances and an accident that changed one of them, but always tied by love. Also, the writing is astounding, the descriptions of places and people and smell are often poetic. The Pepperminty Coast, Birdy!, The Place Where The Land Meets The Ocean, Jolly Olly Orange, The Button Man, MeandPetey and many other things that made this book special, will remain with me forever.
Words can't really do justice to the beauty of this book: you just have to read it. Highly recommended.
This is a book that I will certainly read again and again. The author did an amazing job in depicting the coming of age of two friends, divided by life and circumstances and an accident that changed one of them, but always tied by love. Also, the writing is astounding, the descriptions of places and people and smell are often poetic. The Pepperminty Coast, Birdy!, The Place Where The Land Meets The Ocean, Jolly Olly Orange, The Button Man, MeandPetey and many other things that made this book special, will remain with me forever.
Words can't really do justice to the beauty of this book: you just have to read it. Highly recommended.
March 3, 2014
I agree with the reviewer who said that Petey's rants go on too long, and I think the sudden maturation of Noreen and Danny is a bit startling (but easier to read than the boorish earlier Danny), but neither of those things explains why I wept many times as I was reading, as book celebrated the power of love and exposed the power of hatred. All love is the same thing, says the brilliant, imaginative Petey, just as all waters are the same water. Perhaps reading it in Florida made me sentimentalize the Southie setting, about a half-mile away from my real home. Not surprisingly, the gay world here is portrayed as more forgiving and more interesting and more intellectually advanced than the straight world (except for the exotic Gaelic-spouting mother of Petey); the young Noreen is particularly awful. Here I'm saying all the things wrong with the book instead of extolling the glorious language and the complex characterizations,and the mad-enchanted atmosphere of childhood and neighborhood and home in this special book.
May 30, 2013
Great story, in spite of the few longer-than-necessary rants from Petey this book is - Amazing!!!!!
January 10, 2010
Love and Other Life Experiences: A Helluva Book, This!
With 'A Map of the Harbor Islands' J.G. Hayes has stepped to the front ranks of young American authors. In this his first novel (he has two successful volumes of short stories 'This Thing Called Courage' and 'And Now Batting for Boston') he demonstrates that all of the bright promises of a unique voice so evident in his stories about growing up gay in South Boston have been startlingly well fulfilled. This is a man whose mind is not only rich in stories and characters, but also is a gifted wordsmith who has a liquid language that effortlessly traces the lilt and flow of Irish American expression as filtered through the air and streets of South Boston.
It would be unfair to limit classification of Hayes' output as gay literature, though he is certainly one of the most important writers of gay books in a field of fine compatriots. His newest writing in A Map of the Harbor Islands is on the same level as Michael Cunningham, Mark Doty, Edmund White, KM Schoelein, Jamie O'Neill, and the full range of both Irish and Irish American authors in style and in ability to communicate meaningful stories, whether gay oriented or not. That he is writing so successfully about the tough times of gay youths in a homophobic neighborhood is a wonder and very much to his credit.
We've met the characters of this novel in Hayes' prior stories, but now he has placed them in the grand architectural arc of a long novel. Devoted friends since kindergarten, Petey and Danny are as close as ever two boys could be, with Petey being the Golden Boy who excels in everything and Danny the quiet `also ran' comrade. They share South Boston with all of its idiosyncrasies, grow together, play together, dream together, until one fateful baseball game when Petey is struck in the head with a hard ball that results in his near death. But recovery comes, largely in part to Danny's constant support, and in time the now stuttering Petey has become a strange little outsider with thinking patterns, world concepts, mythologic ideas and strange behaviors that only Danny can understand. Danny matures physically and sexually and finds his first and lasting love in Noreen, a simple girl who usurps his time from the sad and increasingly drinking Petey. Petey's lack of involvement with girls leads to his discovery that he is gay, a secret he can share only with Danny, but a secret Danny at first is unable to handle. Strife is at every turn and Danny joins the Marines to run, to find life outside of South Boston - and to avoid the inevitable expectation of marriage to Noreen. While Danny is away in the Marine Corps he ultimately confronts his true feelings for Petey after Petey has confessed that he loves Danny. It is Petey's unconditional love and wonder for the world that eventually leads Danny to accept his own dormant sexuality, find a new life as an avid reader and librarian, but only at a point when Petey has found a lover. The devastated Danny marries Noreen, they have a child Jamie, and Noreen's personality changes to that of a workaholic lawyer and they divorce, leaving the now warmly human Danny forever changed by his relationship with Petey as a man who understands that love in all forms is the same, whether gay, straight, or filial or fatherly. No pat formulaic endings here, but instead we find a world forever altered by the life devotion of two very special `Southies'.
Attempting to summarize a story of this magnitude is made most difficult because, once read, the ebb and flow of the magic of Hayes' writing lingers like a lovely Irish poem or tune. Hayes' descriptions of atmospheres is simply wondrous: `...the vermilion sunset, which lies along the shore like a throbbing smudge' or `...the beach is empty at this inbetweenish hour, drippy with day and night. A thin time, as Mrs. Harding would say. A time when anything is possible.' He places words and phrases in the mouths of the mothers of the two boys that sing with that special lilt only the Irish can evoke. This is a novel that when the final page is read leaves the reader with that sensation of sadness that the story is over, but also with the surprising realization that Hayes' writes so extremely well that every motive, every change, every happening is planted with seeds throughout the book, and that in retrospect we the reader should have known all along just how things would resolve. Petey's altered world is a magnificent realm that bears re-entering time and time again. 'A Map of the Harbor Islands' is one of those books to read again and again - and hopefully JG Hayes will send another along very soon. He is a gentle, articulate master of fiction. A helluva book, this! Grady Harp
With 'A Map of the Harbor Islands' J.G. Hayes has stepped to the front ranks of young American authors. In this his first novel (he has two successful volumes of short stories 'This Thing Called Courage' and 'And Now Batting for Boston') he demonstrates that all of the bright promises of a unique voice so evident in his stories about growing up gay in South Boston have been startlingly well fulfilled. This is a man whose mind is not only rich in stories and characters, but also is a gifted wordsmith who has a liquid language that effortlessly traces the lilt and flow of Irish American expression as filtered through the air and streets of South Boston.
It would be unfair to limit classification of Hayes' output as gay literature, though he is certainly one of the most important writers of gay books in a field of fine compatriots. His newest writing in A Map of the Harbor Islands is on the same level as Michael Cunningham, Mark Doty, Edmund White, KM Schoelein, Jamie O'Neill, and the full range of both Irish and Irish American authors in style and in ability to communicate meaningful stories, whether gay oriented or not. That he is writing so successfully about the tough times of gay youths in a homophobic neighborhood is a wonder and very much to his credit.
We've met the characters of this novel in Hayes' prior stories, but now he has placed them in the grand architectural arc of a long novel. Devoted friends since kindergarten, Petey and Danny are as close as ever two boys could be, with Petey being the Golden Boy who excels in everything and Danny the quiet `also ran' comrade. They share South Boston with all of its idiosyncrasies, grow together, play together, dream together, until one fateful baseball game when Petey is struck in the head with a hard ball that results in his near death. But recovery comes, largely in part to Danny's constant support, and in time the now stuttering Petey has become a strange little outsider with thinking patterns, world concepts, mythologic ideas and strange behaviors that only Danny can understand. Danny matures physically and sexually and finds his first and lasting love in Noreen, a simple girl who usurps his time from the sad and increasingly drinking Petey. Petey's lack of involvement with girls leads to his discovery that he is gay, a secret he can share only with Danny, but a secret Danny at first is unable to handle. Strife is at every turn and Danny joins the Marines to run, to find life outside of South Boston - and to avoid the inevitable expectation of marriage to Noreen. While Danny is away in the Marine Corps he ultimately confronts his true feelings for Petey after Petey has confessed that he loves Danny. It is Petey's unconditional love and wonder for the world that eventually leads Danny to accept his own dormant sexuality, find a new life as an avid reader and librarian, but only at a point when Petey has found a lover. The devastated Danny marries Noreen, they have a child Jamie, and Noreen's personality changes to that of a workaholic lawyer and they divorce, leaving the now warmly human Danny forever changed by his relationship with Petey as a man who understands that love in all forms is the same, whether gay, straight, or filial or fatherly. No pat formulaic endings here, but instead we find a world forever altered by the life devotion of two very special `Southies'.
Attempting to summarize a story of this magnitude is made most difficult because, once read, the ebb and flow of the magic of Hayes' writing lingers like a lovely Irish poem or tune. Hayes' descriptions of atmospheres is simply wondrous: `...the vermilion sunset, which lies along the shore like a throbbing smudge' or `...the beach is empty at this inbetweenish hour, drippy with day and night. A thin time, as Mrs. Harding would say. A time when anything is possible.' He places words and phrases in the mouths of the mothers of the two boys that sing with that special lilt only the Irish can evoke. This is a novel that when the final page is read leaves the reader with that sensation of sadness that the story is over, but also with the surprising realization that Hayes' writes so extremely well that every motive, every change, every happening is planted with seeds throughout the book, and that in retrospect we the reader should have known all along just how things would resolve. Petey's altered world is a magnificent realm that bears re-entering time and time again. 'A Map of the Harbor Islands' is one of those books to read again and again - and hopefully JG Hayes will send another along very soon. He is a gentle, articulate master of fiction. A helluva book, this! Grady Harp
August 19, 2012
This book calls to mind some lovingly bizarre mixture of A Prayer for Owen Meany and the gay classic At Swim, Two Boys. It's a work of real literary merit with its beautiful, luscious prose that meanders slowly through one of the most heartrending tales of friendship and love. Danny and Petey's friendship develops through the book in hand-picked events from grade school to their early thirties.
December 16, 2007
I think that we have all had peteydonnie relationships in our pasts as youngsters and I think that this rekindled the child in me to try to accept these type of relationships as an adult.I thought how wonderful it was of donnie to love petey through everything even though he knew they were fated to never be on the same wave length.having gone through an extensive bi time of my life I really related to Donnie. It had so many twists and loving moments and to me was totally realistic. this is a book that I could reread every couple of years.
March 30, 2022
9.5
Observation: Impossible not mention At Swim, Two Boys , not as a comparison but as a mere fact that both books were made to sit side by side on a bookshelf. Though they differ as narratives, At Swim dealing specially with the banality of war and the burden of loss while A Map deals with the struggles of accepting that life is and such should be celebrated, both walk side by side on their thematic sidewalks.
A Map of the Harbor Islands is a rather hard to find 2006 book about the comes and goes of two friendships throughout the years, best genre always. Danny's "fear leading into impulsivity" is a constant throughout the book and it's what draws most of the narrative's conflicts while Petey is an omnipresent figure: when he is not right there in front of you, he's hidden behind every word. Birdy.
The writing style is the one where a bug crawling up a thigh can last half a page. If you're not fond of such, be at least aware of that. Petey's long long rants are a blessing, and just when I started thinking they were maybe becoming a bit too much, the book smartly does something with it that starts introducing new sides to the main cast - as if Petey were some sort of God, or Jesus, and his behaviour dictated the people's behaviour around him, directly or not.
The book focus directly on meandPetey, skimming through the starts and endings of "outer happenings" but lingering endlessly on the tinniest details of every now. This decision led to one user here mention that Danny and Noreen have a "sudden maturation", but to me it felt more like the lines didn't merge until they did. Meaning, Noreen's presence didn't matter to meandPetey's adventures until it did - and the book's trust and consistency on this method pays off, fitting its pieces in the end.
As a poor unemployed student, I'm yet to own a copy of this book but as soon as I get a job the Revised Edition will definitely be one of my first buys, if it still available until then. This is the most I've ever written on a book in this website, showing just how much I think there is to like on this one. Hayes deserves much, much more for Harbor Islands, for it's a remarkable achievement.
Observation: Impossible not mention At Swim, Two Boys , not as a comparison but as a mere fact that both books were made to sit side by side on a bookshelf. Though they differ as narratives, At Swim dealing specially with the banality of war and the burden of loss while A Map deals with the struggles of accepting that life is and such should be celebrated, both walk side by side on their thematic sidewalks.
A Map of the Harbor Islands is a rather hard to find 2006 book about the comes and goes of two friendships throughout the years, best genre always. Danny's "fear leading into impulsivity" is a constant throughout the book and it's what draws most of the narrative's conflicts while Petey is an omnipresent figure: when he is not right there in front of you, he's hidden behind every word. Birdy.
The writing style is the one where a bug crawling up a thigh can last half a page. If you're not fond of such, be at least aware of that. Petey's long long rants are a blessing, and just when I started thinking they were maybe becoming a bit too much, the book smartly does something with it that starts introducing new sides to the main cast - as if Petey were some sort of God, or Jesus, and his behaviour dictated the people's behaviour around him, directly or not.
The book focus directly on meandPetey, skimming through the starts and endings of "outer happenings" but lingering endlessly on the tinniest details of every now. This decision led to one user here mention that Danny and Noreen have a "sudden maturation", but to me it felt more like the lines didn't merge until they did. Meaning, Noreen's presence didn't matter to meandPetey's adventures until it did - and the book's trust and consistency on this method pays off, fitting its pieces in the end.
As a poor unemployed student, I'm yet to own a copy of this book but as soon as I get a job the Revised Edition will definitely be one of my first buys, if it still available until then. This is the most I've ever written on a book in this website, showing just how much I think there is to like on this one. Hayes deserves much, much more for Harbor Islands, for it's a remarkable achievement.
Read
August 4, 2022This is not a review, I just thought it'd be interesting to explain what does the word Revised means in the Revised Edition... and it actually means a lot. Yes, I'm surprised myself.
See, the book is still the same, thankfully, but I have noticed at least one change per chapter. Though I ask you to bear in mind I'm still on the 7th chapter of this edition, I want to stress that Hayes makes a strong case on expanding details or deepening the world building. The changes so far have varied from small wording choices to pages worth of additional content; I also haven't noticed any cutting when comparing it to the first print. So to summarize the experience so far: It feels like an Extended Cut. Here are some examples.
First edition:
First edition:
Revised edition's Chapter VII has a lot of changes. For example, the chapter already starts with one and a half page of new content. Two examples of completely new stuff (both in Chapter Seven):
There are no mentions if these changes are recent or if they're, like, from the manuscript before editing and publishing it the first time. Either way, they've been so far good changes! The new details are in sync to the original text in matters of pace, personality and textuality and the changes so far have been carried with motivations in mind, be it to adapt to a previous addition/change, be it to give the text a bit more flavor.
The fact that this edition has 474 pages (85 more pages than the first edition) makes me wonder if there are that many more changes yet to be read. I intend to update this review when I finish it.
Aug 04th: Finished it, will talk about it someday.
See, the book is still the same, thankfully, but I have noticed at least one change per chapter. Though I ask you to bear in mind I'm still on the 7th chapter of this edition, I want to stress that Hayes makes a strong case on expanding details or deepening the world building. The changes so far have varied from small wording choices to pages worth of additional content; I also haven't noticed any cutting when comparing it to the first print. So to summarize the experience so far: It feels like an Extended Cut. Here are some examples.
First edition:
He couldn't have been more wonder-whacked if the Pope had come to visit.Revised edition:
He couldn't have been more wonder-whacked if Mother Mary had come to visit with Abe Lincoln and a few aliens in tow.Such change is justified by a previous all new paragraph.
First edition:
Our mothers were upstairs in Mrs. Harding’s kitchen, trying to find things to say to each other.Revised edition:
Twelve almost thirteen and our mothers were upstairs in Mrs. Harding’s kitchen, trying to find things to say to each other.
Revised edition's Chapter VII has a lot of changes. For example, the chapter already starts with one and a half page of new content. Two examples of completely new stuff (both in Chapter Seven):
There are no mentions if these changes are recent or if they're, like, from the manuscript before editing and publishing it the first time. Either way, they've been so far good changes! The new details are in sync to the original text in matters of pace, personality and textuality and the changes so far have been carried with motivations in mind, be it to adapt to a previous addition/change, be it to give the text a bit more flavor.
The fact that this edition has 474 pages (85 more pages than the first edition) makes me wonder if there are that many more changes yet to be read. I intend to update this review when I finish it.
Aug 04th: Finished it, will talk about it someday.
November 22, 2022
THE POWER OF WORDS AND STORIES
Words gush passionately from Danny O’Connor, the narrator of this first novel (Hayes has published two story collections), as he tells the story of his intense friendship with Petey Harding. Growing up in working-class, Irish-Catholic South Boston, they first meet in kindergarten, where Petey is sitting as if waiting for Danny. They become best friends. After he suffers a head injury, Petey mysteriously becomes obsessed with words, names, and stories. He wants to be a seanchaí (“shan-a-kee”), an Irish storyteller.
When Petey reveals that he is gay, Danny worries how he may be thought of since he is Petey’s best friend. Then, suffering deep loneliness for Petey, Danny wonders, “Can you be gay with just one person?”
As he continues his story through marriage, the birth of a son, divorce, Danny realizes that words are Petey’s wonderful gift to him: “The almost heartbreaking wistfulness that hits me when I hear beautiful words strung together.” In the penultimate chapter, Petey’s mother tells Danny a story that changes his life forever.
In A Map of the Harbor Islands, J. G. Hayes eloquently proves the power of words and stories. His prose screams to be read aloud.
Words gush passionately from Danny O’Connor, the narrator of this first novel (Hayes has published two story collections), as he tells the story of his intense friendship with Petey Harding. Growing up in working-class, Irish-Catholic South Boston, they first meet in kindergarten, where Petey is sitting as if waiting for Danny. They become best friends. After he suffers a head injury, Petey mysteriously becomes obsessed with words, names, and stories. He wants to be a seanchaí (“shan-a-kee”), an Irish storyteller.
When Petey reveals that he is gay, Danny worries how he may be thought of since he is Petey’s best friend. Then, suffering deep loneliness for Petey, Danny wonders, “Can you be gay with just one person?”
As he continues his story through marriage, the birth of a son, divorce, Danny realizes that words are Petey’s wonderful gift to him: “The almost heartbreaking wistfulness that hits me when I hear beautiful words strung together.” In the penultimate chapter, Petey’s mother tells Danny a story that changes his life forever.
In A Map of the Harbor Islands, J. G. Hayes eloquently proves the power of words and stories. His prose screams to be read aloud.
April 7, 2009
One of the best books I have ever read. Slow to start and thick to wade through but soon the beautiful story makes itself heard and I didn't want to put down the book nor did I want to finish it.
March 19, 2015
A Map of the Harbor Islands is a great read. It's captivating, a wonderful love story that isn't sentimental, and features well-written and realistic characters.
September 29, 2020
Awkward book to read.
It starts at the end to dive into the beginning of the story.
Some parts I fast read to normal read others.
This book had a way of capturing me as few others do.
It feels like there could have been at least 3 more chapters to it. Having said this it is a completed book with, lasts say, a open ending.
Did they end up together!?
It starts at the end to dive into the beginning of the story.
Some parts I fast read to normal read others.
This book had a way of capturing me as few others do.
It feels like there could have been at least 3 more chapters to it. Having said this it is a completed book with, lasts say, a open ending.
Did they end up together!?
Read
June 24, 2018DNF. Indescribably “unreadable.” I found myself stumbling over the rhythm of the writing and I just couldn’t get past it. Perhaps I’ll try it again another day.
January 23, 2021
An amazing story with unforgettable characters. I want a sequel so badly!
Read
September 14, 2022no idea how to rate this one (mixed feelings). it's gonna sit with me though
February 6, 2025
How cruel life could be
July 4, 2008
Stories about friendship have universal appeal to fans of both literature and film, because most of us can relate to having that one friend you seem to be stuck with for life, while others come and go. Furthermore, life-long friendships are inherently allowed to be flawed - unlike marriage or parenthood - so when things don't go necessarily according to plan, it's just another random entry from a catalogue of experiences and memories to be recalled at a later occasion. In his latest novel, A Map of the Harbor Islands, author J.G. Hayes invites us to witness the lives of Danny and Petey, two South Boston childhood friends who endure a veritable rollercoaster ride of emotion from their first meeting at age five as kindergarten classmates to adult men with families, family histories, and an undeniable fate that prevents them from drifting apart.
Petey and Danny are fundamentally different from the outset. Petey Harding is the youngest of seven children, raised by his warm and boisterous single mother. Danny Connor is an only child whose teenage brother died tragically while Danny was an infant, leaving his parents cold and emotionally distant. Outside the home, Petey is a straight-A student, gifted as an athlete and popular among his classmates, whereas Danny is average, awkward, and quiet, but perfectly content standing in Petey's shadow.
Their lives and friendships are forever changed when Petey suffers a head injury during a baseball game. Left in a coma, Petey is miraculously revived by Danny's physical presence. The post-accident Petey is irritable, has a stutter, and waxes philosophic on everything from the earth's beauty to the names of the South Boston harbor islands. Meanwhile Danny, who feels responsible for the accident, tries to comprehend Petey's new outlook, and begrudgingly joins forces with him.
Eventually, Danny becomes the old Petey - confident, athletic, and popular, yet he never forgets his childhood friend, even when a girl, Noreen, begins to occupy his time and thoughts. Years later, after Danny enlists to become a Marine, Petey waits until the night before he leaves for boot camp to tell Danny he's gay. Subsequent life events - Danny's marriage, Petey's alcoholism, and the apparent, yet unspoken, sexual tension between the two friends - continuously tests the limits of their friendship and their loyalty to each other.
Hayes' writing style can be compared to Joyce Carol Oates, since he does a remarkable job bringing not only the characters but their consciences to life. Danny represents the fragile child in all of us, who forever questions every decision he makes. Petey is a somber yet refreshing metaphor for triumph in spite of lost dreams. Whether noteworthy or mundane, the quality time the reader spends with Danny and Petey spans several decades, and the author's ability to keep the pages turning is a testament to his talent for creating a heart-breaking, relatable and above all, compelling story.
Petey and Danny are fundamentally different from the outset. Petey Harding is the youngest of seven children, raised by his warm and boisterous single mother. Danny Connor is an only child whose teenage brother died tragically while Danny was an infant, leaving his parents cold and emotionally distant. Outside the home, Petey is a straight-A student, gifted as an athlete and popular among his classmates, whereas Danny is average, awkward, and quiet, but perfectly content standing in Petey's shadow.
Their lives and friendships are forever changed when Petey suffers a head injury during a baseball game. Left in a coma, Petey is miraculously revived by Danny's physical presence. The post-accident Petey is irritable, has a stutter, and waxes philosophic on everything from the earth's beauty to the names of the South Boston harbor islands. Meanwhile Danny, who feels responsible for the accident, tries to comprehend Petey's new outlook, and begrudgingly joins forces with him.
Eventually, Danny becomes the old Petey - confident, athletic, and popular, yet he never forgets his childhood friend, even when a girl, Noreen, begins to occupy his time and thoughts. Years later, after Danny enlists to become a Marine, Petey waits until the night before he leaves for boot camp to tell Danny he's gay. Subsequent life events - Danny's marriage, Petey's alcoholism, and the apparent, yet unspoken, sexual tension between the two friends - continuously tests the limits of their friendship and their loyalty to each other.
Hayes' writing style can be compared to Joyce Carol Oates, since he does a remarkable job bringing not only the characters but their consciences to life. Danny represents the fragile child in all of us, who forever questions every decision he makes. Petey is a somber yet refreshing metaphor for triumph in spite of lost dreams. Whether noteworthy or mundane, the quality time the reader spends with Danny and Petey spans several decades, and the author's ability to keep the pages turning is a testament to his talent for creating a heart-breaking, relatable and above all, compelling story.
September 21, 2016
This book was formative to my understanding of my own bisexuality and holds a special place in my heart because of that. It is also one of the finest literary works I've had the pleasure to read period, and an epic love story with a happy ending. (To find a love story that grapples with life issues in such a deep, complex and realistic way as this book does, and for it also to still be ultimately happy and hopeful is a rare thing. For a queer love story to end so is an audacious act.)
The way that the questioning of platonic vs romantic love was explored in this book resonated with me in particular. And the general feelings of outsiderness, and of not having a proper model to understand their experience or live their lives in a way that is fulfilling to them that all of the characters - gay men, bisexual men, and straight women - contend with in this story are very well depicted, and Hayes has a beautiful, poetic writing style.
A book that deserves to be more widely read, and a good book to curl up by the fire with in the wintertime. I've lost track of the times I've reread it and still wish I could read it again for the first time.
The way that the questioning of platonic vs romantic love was explored in this book resonated with me in particular. And the general feelings of outsiderness, and of not having a proper model to understand their experience or live their lives in a way that is fulfilling to them that all of the characters - gay men, bisexual men, and straight women - contend with in this story are very well depicted, and Hayes has a beautiful, poetic writing style.
A book that deserves to be more widely read, and a good book to curl up by the fire with in the wintertime. I've lost track of the times I've reread it and still wish I could read it again for the first time.
April 27, 2016
Lovely lyrical prose and well developed characters. I expected to find this an okayish read as unfortunately too much of recent gay fiction is. Instead I found characters as unforgettable as those in Angelas Ashes and as unexpected as the Harbor Islands are to the many people of Boston who don't even know they exist.
September 6, 2020
This is one of the best books I have ever read. An unforgettable story. Beautiful writing. And Petey... What an amazing character! Now whenever I look down while walking, I remember Petey and his 'For Spacious Skies'. Then I look up at the sky and try to memorize the shape of clouds, the color of the sky...
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March 21, 2013Went to two amazing author readings when this book came out. The *BEST* was the during the q&a at the second reading, with just a little gentle coaxing, the author did his impression of Ethel Merman singing The Unicorn Song. A laugh shot out of me so fast and forceful that it made a loud sound!!
May 31, 2015
found the book initially hard to get in to. Took me several stops and starts before I was able finish. I have to remember to mail it back to the friend that loaned it to me. It is a shame that it is no longer available.
January 3, 2023
This is my all-time favorite novel. Great characters and it completely captures the scene in Southie (Boston). Third time reading this novel (and I rarely reread books).
J.G. Hayes' other books are great as well!
J.G. Hayes' other books are great as well!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews