Now Batting for Boston: More Stories by J. G. Hayes

“Now Batting for Boston: More Stories by J. G. Hayes captures boyhood sexual awakening in all its confusing, frightening, and tender aspects. Hayes tells of boys in transition, coming to terms with unexpected attractions to other boys, against the backdrop of famously rough Irish immigrant South Boston, itself in transition to a gentrified neighborhood. Hayes’s characters—like a blunt blue-collar kid spinning his cautionary tale about coming to terms with who he is through a suicide attempt, and a sensitive young housepainter whose budding sexuality is inextricably tied to his creative yearnings to be an architect— will win the affections of many LGBT readers who know these stories in their hearts. Hayes frequently spins his tales beginning with an enticing mysteriousness that ends in surprising and gratifying ways. He embraces his Irish literary heritage in the rich detail and dialects that he employs, combining them with a cinematic quality that creates a uniquely American voice. In Now Batting for Boston Hayes is batting a thousand.”