- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group (April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0764204440
- ISBN-13: 978-0764204449
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 1.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,020,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Danny Gospel
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Once he'd performed in his family's gospel band, but now most of his loved ones have passed on. Still known as "Danny Gospel," he is living a sedate, quiet life as a postman in a small Iowa town. Soon his tranquil existence is broken open by--a dream, a vision, a sign?--a beautiful woman he is sure is his "beloved." Logic and sense tucked safely out of harm's way, Danny launches a quest to find his true love. Always good-natured, he is a hero on a journey--dreaming impossible dreams and, no matter how much he must suffer, pursuing romance and heavenly glory.
About the Author
David Athey, a Midwesterner by birth, now teaches English and oversees the literary journal at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Athey has published poems, reviews, and short stories in numerous journals, including The Iowa Review, Oxford Magazine, and Harvard Review, and holds an MFA from Hamline University. He and his wife live in Palm Beach, Florida.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Holy Fool, 6 May 2008
By elena maria vidal - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Danny Gospel (Paperback)
"We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we without honour." 1 Corinthians 4:10
In few novels does a character come so close to an incarnation of the words "fool for Christ" as does Daniel David McGillicuddy, the hero of David Athey's debut novel "Danny Gospel." Danny has lost everything, his family, his home, his bride, his sanity, and his respectability. He has been stripped of everything except his faith, which feeds both his innate kindliness and his joy, a joy which the world cannot give or take away. He is a bit like the "Holy Fools" of the Russian Orthodox tradition, a living contradiction to the world, and the often unwitting vehicle for salvific graces.
Constantly seeking the elusive state he calls "normal and happy," it becomes quickly obvious to the reader that while Danny may have moments of happiness in his life he will never be "normal." The Gospel-singing Iowa farm family in which he was raised, although idealized by memory and bitter loss, was anything but normal. One tragic accident causes "the Gospel family" to unravel, leading to death and dispersal. Danny is left alone, except for a few faithful friends; his guilt over the original fatal mishap contributes to his trauma.
For Danny is truly emotionally troubled; the story is told from his point of view and it is not always clear when he is hallucinating and when he is lucid. It is difficult not to become mesmerized by the peculiar twists of Danny's thought processes. His tendency to pursue every dream and impulse leads him upon an odyssey across America. His adventures at last bring him full circle, to the moment when being "normal and happy" are once again within his grasp.
However, Danny is uniquely marked by the cross. He longs for the days when his family proclaimed the Gospel through their music. Danny is called to share the Gospel on a deeper level, the level of abasement, of humiliation, of being a stranger and pilgrim on the earth. Lyrically written, "Danny Gospel" vivifies the scents and sounds of Iowa farms and towns, with characters who are distinctly Midwestern and prosaically salt-of-the-earth. Danny shines among them like a prophet of old, pointing the way to another and better world, saving his life by losing it.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Literary Novel, 16 May 2008
By C. C. Blunt "CCBlunt" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Danny Gospel (Paperback)
A good literary novel takes you to places you've never been (literally and figuratively). You discover new things about the world, and about yourself. Danny Gospel does this to the Nth degree, and I highly recommend it.
Danny's happy family and world have collapsed around him, and he seems to have been left with nothing but a couple of friends. Slowly, gradually, seeing and reflecting on the world through Danny's eyes, we piece together all that has brought him to this point. With masterful narration and beautiful prose, Danny leads us deeper into his family and his inner life, and we accompany him as he tries to put the broken pieces together.
Though there is much sadness and tragedy in the story, I found it to be increadibly uplifting at the same time. Most of us, like Danny, just want a "normal happy life," with a spouse and children and maybe a nice place in the country --- but there's always something that keeps us from getting there. The story led me to reflect on how better to keep my own inner peace while trying to find the elusive "normal happy life." And Danny Gospel is an excellent illustration of something else: there is seldom a Disney-style "happily ever after" in real life --- but even a life marked with tragedies and disappointments can still be full of joy and peace.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Utter Magnificence, 3 April 2008
By The set of all sets that are not self listing... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Danny Gospel (Paperback)
This is not like any "christian fiction" that you have ever read. That is a good thing. It is a novel that desserves serious attention, and one that you can read multiple times, still getting more and more out of it.
I'm still working through it (i.e., thinking about it). But I think that I can say this: Danny Gospel is the story of a person desparate to find answers in a nonsensical world in which his experience doesn't match his faith, and his faith doesn't match his experience. But he doesn't want to give up either.
The plot, then, is to follow Danny as he hopes to bump into the truth.
Get ready to have your mind and heart challenged (and your hopes raised). You'll fall in love with the characters, and try, with them, to make sense of strange chronology, flashbacks, memories, fears and hopes. As Athey writes, you will find yourself trying to figure out the total picture with Danny. Think about the symbolism. Think about the literary figures your college professor talked about (you'll wish you had been taking notes)
And the writing...is utterly beautiful. While athey makes a great intellectual novel, he also has created a thing of immense beauty. It is pure pleasure to read.
Put the other book down - that one where you know what will happen in the end before you finished the first page. Pick up Danny Gospel.
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