The Man Booker Prize-winning author takes the pulse of
modern Ireland with a masterful new collection of stories.
Roddy Doyle has earned a devoted following for his wry wit,
his uncanny ear, and his ability to fully capture the hearts
of his characters. Bullfighting, his second collection of
stories, offers a series of bittersweet takes on men and
middle-age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. Moving
from classrooms to local pubs to bullrings, these tales
feature an array of men taking stock and reliving past
glories, each concerned with loss in different ways-of their
place in the world, of their power, their virility, health,
and love. "Recuperation" follows a man as he sets off on his
daily prescribed walk around his neighborhood, the sights
triggering recollections of his family and his younger days.
In "Animals", George recalls caring for his children's many
pets and his heartfelt effort to spare them grief when they
died or disappeared. The title story captures the mixture of
bravado and helplessness of four friends who go off to Spain
on holiday. Sharply observed, funny, and moving, these
thirteen stories present a new vision of contemporary
Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and middle- aged men
trying to break out of the routines of their lives.
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