Map of the Harbor Islands

By J.G. Hayes

Petey and Danny have been friends since childhood, but their relationship changes after Petey suffers a concussion. The new Petey who wakes from a coma isn't the same person as Danny has known &... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560235969
• ISBN13: 9781560235965
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Harrington Park Press
• Length: 389 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Great & Grand Book That I Could Not Put Down. Perfection!

I've admired and enjoyed J.G. Hayes since I first happened upon his first glorious book of stories, This Thing Called Courage. His portraits of young men growing up gay and confused or self-hateful in South Boston are more than courageous. They are absolutely spot on true. You can walk or drive down the streets and alleys of South Boston and you feel that you've walked into a perfectly told story by Hayes. Stories of male beauty clouded by fear of the unknown and terror of self acceptance and self knowledge. The second book of stories by Hayes, Now Batting For Boston, is a continuation of the promise he showed in his first book. He has an eye and ear for language and plot that is astonishing. But it is the heart of his writing and the heart in his tales that gets the reader in the gut. Again and again and again. It is personally thrilling to me that I was even more moved by A Map of the Harbor Islands than I have been by Hayes' stories. This is a glorious and great and grand novel. Danny O'Connor and Petey Harding are astonishing and surprising and sexy and wise characters. Taking their journey along with them has been one of the pleasures of my life as a reader. This book is obviously influenced by another great gay novel, At Swim Two Boys. But this is not just an imitation or an Americanized version of that great Irish masterpiece. This is a true work of art on its own. Tonight I could not put this book down though I nearly froze after sitting in a bath for three hours turning the pages furiously. Do yourself a life lasting favor. Get this book. Lock the doors. Light some candles. Get comfortable. And take part in a great and beautiful love story for the ages. Bravo, Mr. Hayes, you've done it again. May your story telling never cease and may you acknowledge and accept the pleasure you give.

Magical words make this book an adventure.

The unusual thing about A Map of the Harbor Islands is that Hayes wrote his debut novel entirely in the present tense - and this talented writer makes it work beautifully. The narrator, Danny O'Connor is always in the moment as he tells the reader about his, and his best friend Petey's, story, which spans twenty years starting when they are eleven. Petey is the victim of an accident and he's never the same again, but their friendship remains steadfast through the years, even as their relationship changes. Hayes tells a heartwarming and unusual love story that made me laugh, cry and understand more about life than I did before the experience of reading his book - A highly recommended read

J.G. Hayes does it again---- and better.

Anyone, man or woman, who remembers their best childhood friend will both weep at and delight in this wonderful novel. Even though each of the heroes walks his own rocky path, and even though sometimes they are incommunicado, the love between Danny and Petey continues into manhood. How that friendship mutates yet maintains is one of the many delights of this great book. As those who have enjoyed his previous books can attest, one finds more than a plot full of wonders in Joe Hayes' stories. There is beautiful writing, comedy in the midst of trouble, and heart rending on-the-mark description of both people and nature.

Great love story touches on being considered "different" in today's world

Danny O'Connor and Petey Harding have known each other since their early boyhood in "Southie" (working class area of South Boston), and remained "bestest" friends through many changes and trials in their lives. Originally considered the area's "Golden Boy," an outstanding athlete and outspoken scholar who was known and well- liked by everyone in town, Petey's world changed during one of his baseball games, when a wild pitch put him into a coma. When he finally awakened, he had developed a stutter, a compelling desire to avoid most people, and, although still outspoken, his lengthy "stream of consciousness" stories tended to ramble into illogical conclusions and observations, reinforcing the popular conclusion that "that Harding boy ain't been quite right since his accident." Besides his widowed mother and emotionally-distant older brother, the only other constant in his life continued to be Danny, who listened to his stories, explored the nearby Boston harbor islands with him, and tried not to show his disappointment at missing the "old Petey" himself. In their later teens, Petey comes out to Danny as gay. Not knowing how to respond, Danny believes he is helping Petey by arranging a double date for him to the prom with his girlfriend's female cousin, and that night turns out to be a tramatic experience for all. Under pressure from his girlfriend to propose, and troubled by his close emotional love for Petey, which he fears could be a sign of his own homosexuality, Danny signs up for the Marines, to get away from both of them and try to put his life in perspective. Unfortunately, subsequent events only make things more complicated. "A Map of the Harbor Islands" isn't an easy read, being dialogue- driven and including many of Petey's lengthy rambling stories (as well as the fact that the author wrote in Petey's stutter, which sometimes takes several lines to get out one sentence), resulting in a lengthy 389 pages. Keep with it, as it is well worth the effort! The novel is a beautiful story about being perceived as "different" in today's world, an almost-lyrical oming of age tale and a love story for our times. This is the author's first full-length novel, but many know his writing from his best selling collection of similar stories of "Southie" boys, "This Thing Called Courage."

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 Ja