From Kenny's in Galway, I received a slim volume of poetry written by John F. Deane entitled "Tocatta & Fugue". Long have I been a fan of the Irish voice, almost to the point of complacency. I read my Heaney, Montague, McCabe, Carson, and others, and enjoyed completely an evening of stout and words written from the heart. Deane's volume arrived and sat upon my shelf for far too long, aging, until on a late night I pulled it down and began reading the last poem of the work, "Fugue". His rhythym, word schemes, environment, captured me. I can only reckon the spirit of the man runs deep and true. You see, on occasion the spirit of a poet touches us through a primal chord. His music is one we have shared since the begining of time, the chord struck pricks our ears and begs give listen. I suppose I should give examples of his work, and why his poetry glistens. But I won't. Rather, all I ask is that the true reader of poetry, one who is moved and says "Yes", give Deane's work a try. I say, Yes, John F. Deane's "Toccata & Fugue" is worthy of 5 stars, and should grace the shelf of true believers.

I met the author of this book when he came and talked to my College English class. He is an Irish man who lost his wife to the disease that is mentioned in the book. His wife left him and a young daughter. He told us that this book is about his village and his imagination of turning the wolf disease into a werewolf story. He said that he never wanted to show the wolf in the book because he was a fan of old black and white movies where you really never saw the werewolf only what the wolf had done during the night. Interesting man

This story had me pretty creeped out. Is it possible to feel so frightened and yet not feel you are totally "getting it"? This story takes place in Ireland, but not the Ireland of any tourist brochures, heh-heh...The main character is a young woman who is suffering from Lupus. Her mother is perpetually depressed, her aunt is rather odd. Strange events are occuring in the village. Sheep are disappearing, the mountains are oddly quiet. The book left me feeling so uneasy yet I felt I didn't totally understand what was happening, which is a pretty disconcerting feeling to someone who loves to read. Yet, maybe that was the author's intention, to leave the reader frightened, unsure and questioning....I am going to re-read this book, I feel I must...

This story takes place in Ireland, but not the Ireland of tourist brochures, heh-heh. Is it possible to be totally creeped out by a novel and still feel like you didn't totally "get it"? The main character is a young lady who suffers from Lupus. Her mother is perpetually depressed, the young lady's aunt is rather odd. There are strange events occuring in this village. People's sheep are disapearing, the mountains are strangely quiet. I felt so creeped out while reading this book, yet felt like some of what was occuring was going over my head and that's a rather disconcerting feeling to someone who loves to read.I am currently re-reading this book to see if I missed something, but maybe that was the author's whole intention, to leave the reader nervous, frightened and questioning....