Bullfighting
Stories
Roddy Doyle

Viking
April 2011/ ISBN 978067022878
Fiction / Stories
Amazon

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

This anthology is a collection of 13 stories featuring men in their middle ages in Ireland today. The men have concerns in various areas: of loss of ability to love, of loss of power, of loss of their place in the world. There is their recollection of their past years.

For example: There is: "Animals" recalling caring for children and their pets.
"Bullfighting" tells of the helplessness of 4 friends off on a holiday in Spain

Some of these stories are poignant; others humorous; others heartwarming and others bittersweet. They must come to terms with their lives. Each story is written with understanding and sympathy; delving into how the men found themselves in their present situation. There is a sense of Ireland today.