Uncle Sean

by Ronald L. Donaghe

When fourteen-year-old Will Barnett meets his Uncle Sean, whom he has not seen since he was six years old, Will is instantly captivated by his uncle's beauty and begins at that moment to fall in love.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595297609
• ISBN13: 9780595297603
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Soon to be a classic!

A Big Chief tablet, a letter, a spiral notebook, and a pair of Vietnam era dog tags. When Ronald L. Donaghe throws these ingredients into the pot, the result is a sumptuous tale of love, need, and self-discovery. Thirty years ago, the tablet belonged to Will Barnett, a farm boy in New Mexico who found himself inexplicably drawn to his troubled uncle, Sean. Through Will's writings, the reader literally feels Will's thoughts about Sean evolve from curiosity to an odd but real love. After discovering Will's crush, Sean takes on the role of mentor, gently helping his nephew understand the implications of his feelings, and setting him on the path to finding a love of his own. As the other components of Mr. Donaghe's recipe are revealed, Will's story unfolds with the beauty and simplicity of a rose attaining full bloom. Masterfully written, Uncle Sean is a realistic tale of one family's struggle with a harsh environment, Vietnam era politics, and the homosexual taboo. The characters are well defined and multidimensional, the setting is so real it made me crave a drink of cold water and the shade of an Elm tree, and the pace is comfortably quick. This book will remain in my library, and I expect to read much more of Mr. Donaghe's work.

So Real it Sweats

As a middle school (junior high) English teacher, I was delighted to run across this book. Every high school library should have it available for questioning youth, and it should be required reading for parents and teachers, alike. Not to give anything away, it is the painfully hand-written story of one Will Barnett, who falls in love with his Uncle Sean, a Vietnam vet who has recently come to stay with his family: his sister Arlene and her husband and four children. He has recently been discharged from a military hospital, though for exactly what kind of "wound" is not made clear in the beginning. But 14 year-old Will is about to find out. He is so struck with his uncle's beauty, so emotionally caught by his feelings, that he feels compelled to write about them. We readers are his uneasy observers as he slathers his thoughts onto the pages of a Big Chief tablet. At first it is painful to read Will's butchered prose, but as he progresses, so does his command of the language as he forces himself to write and read and squeeze the words from deep down within his soul. Maybe this work is a bit too mature for junior high students (maybe not), but one never doubts that those very students would quickly identify with Will Barnett. I wouldn't hesitate to urge high school students to read it, however.

What lonely boys know

I grew up in similar ways to Will Barnett in this great book. Lonely, in love with another boy, though I never thought about writing about my feelings like Will did for his Uncle Sean. So what if this book is written for younger guys? Younger guys should have books written for them. Though I'm in my early 20s, I still enjoyed reading about Will's crush and how his uncle handled it with caution and wisdom, and how Will learned to live with that love and go one with his life.

Ron Does It Again

Ron Donaghe has done it again with his latest novel, Uncle Sean. It wasn't so much the plot that fascinated me with this latest story, but rather his brilliant use of voice. Ron not only captured a 14 year old's voice, but he also used an uneducated one, as well. Then he shifts the voice just enough for us to see Will in various stages of growing up. This is what good writing is all about: the ability to time-shift and make us believe. Well, Ron certainly made me believe. In addition, Ron is such a good storyteller that he had me actually believe (at first) that he had indeed torn down a barn and had found the tablet, the letter and the spiral notebook. I'm really looking forward to the sequel to this story entitled 'Lance', which continues with Will's relationship with his new boyfriend.

Three Voices, One Great Story

While much shorter than Ronald L. Donaghe's other novels, Uncle Sean is certainly no less realistic, thought-provoking, or intriguing. Though told entirely in first person, the narrative actually uses three different voices. The first voice is that of a man who finds the materials and instills in readers a desire to learn the story they hold. Another is of the young man Will Barnett, who realizes that he wants a boyfriend. And the third voice is of Uncle Sean himself, the object of Will's affection. Donaghe uses each voice as a different way of exploring the complexities of same-sex attraction and, more universally, the frustrations of feeling isolated and rejected. The Salvation Mongers remains my favorite of Donaghe's novels, but Uncle Sean is perhaps his most touching novel, and I think countless readers will relate to Will's desire to find someone "pretty" to love forever.