by Terry Kenneally
Versatile Irish author Roddy Doyle, best known for his novels such as The Commitments (part of the Barrytown Trilogy), Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha (which won a Booker Prize) and A Star Called Henry, has published his second set of short stories. Previously reviewed in this column were Doyle’s stories about the surging immigrant community in Dublin called The Deportees.
Bullfighting’s theme is mid-life angst, specifically forty-eight year old men. The men in this collection are midway up the social ladder, neither working class nor high achieving professional. What they have in common is a sudden new vantage point from which their past suddenly seems very distant, the future slightly dark, and the present incomprehensible. They are beset by mysterious aches and pains which constantly lead them to check their symptoms on the internet.
The title story is about four friends on holiday in Spain. Donal, the protagonist, finds himself unable to join his companions in happy, idle talk as his mind is on his kids back home, all but one of whom has flown the nest. Donal wanders into a bull-ring at night, and comes face-to-face with a bull, experiencing a “morituri te salutant” (those who are about to die salute you).
Male friendship, or the male family bonds of father and son or brother and brother are the backbone of the collection. This writer is of the opinion that Bullfighting is a TOP SHELF read.
*Terrence J. Kenneally is the president of Terrence J. Kenneally & Associates Co. in Fairview Park, Ohio. His practice consists of representing insured’s and insurance companies in insurance defense litigation throughout the state of Ohio. He is presently pursuing a Masters Degree in Irish Studies at John Carroll University. He can be reached at
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