tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473492655287249934.post2758208246658811383..comments2023-09-21T17:51:29.816+10:00Comments on Nikolaos' Place: Map of the Harbor IslandsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473492655287249934.post-58094202064634486062010-02-12T03:14:03.979+11:002010-02-12T03:14:03.979+11:00You said this in your longer review:"I strugg...You said this in your longer review:<br><br>"I struggled to read his first book, This Thing Called Courage : South Boston Stories, because it was so bleak. Young men growing up in a place where it was almost impossible to be what they were, and having no one to show them the path that young men like them could tread to grow into wisdom and fulfillment. Boys don’t grow up by themselves. They need men to guide them – without that they never properly mature. And gay or bi boys need gay or bi men, because the social interactions are necessarily more complex, harder, more likely to fail. Because most of us never had such guides, we had to construct our own code of values, our own social links, our own hoekie. In Hayes’ stories, and in real life, we often fail, sometimes catastrophically, and the process always leaves us damaged and incomplete. Things are no different in this wonderful novel. Yet still, it is full of hope."<br><br>Interesting. Joe has discussed with me his progression of thought and conviction through the books. I'll share those thoughts with you some time.<br><br>Thanks for posting this. It's a sweet book, a marvelous one. But you already knew I thought that. ;-)Adam Phillipshttp://diversgems.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com