Spirited Men: Story, Soul, and Substance Paperback – March 28, 2004

Brian Doyle recently introduced me to some of the most incredible, remarkable, noteworthy gentleman I have ever had the pleasure to encounter. I say this ruefully, because in reality when we met in a choral room beneath the arched grandeur of the Cathedral of the Madeline I only managed to embarrass myself and walk away quietly with a signed poem for a friend of Catholic descent. I say all this because Spirited Men is a walk with some of the finest people I have never met. They are diverse, deep and diligently indicative of all that is noteworthy of manhood and the honest pursuit of it. It is not that it is difficult to sing praises of Doyle's writing, but rather that juxtaposed there is nothing I can currently note as effulgently and sincerely as Doyle does. Sincerity. That seems to encapsulate the feelings I felt beneath the weighty grandeur of an edifice to divinity, sanctity, holiness. As well as the feelings I felt as I read the details of these Spirited Men. Sincerity is Holy. In Spirited Men you will meet Bob Boehmer, Paul Kelly, Jim Kjelgaard, Plutarch, Robert Louis Stevenson and several others. A smattering of writers, musicians and more, all of who are connected by shared substance and soul. One particularly poignant moment in the narrative is the examination of Doyle's rereading of Big Red as an adult. To readers who continued to approach literature long after it is required by public educators I would ask what was written that drew us back? For myself I can think of the individual stories and characters who I became intimately associated with through the printed page and Doyle's explication of this moment in my life was incredible. I love Doyle's writing.

Got this book for book club and am happy to keep. It was a delight to read and had a different take on creative folk that we all know something about, but which to author has done research and supplies a much broader view as well as a different slant on what he sees in them as special persons.

Brian Doyle is my favorite author. I have been reading his work in Guideposts Daily for years. When I receive a new issue, I read his contributions, all of them immediately. His prose is poetry. "Spirited Men..." increases my admiration. Additionally, the content was thoroughly enjoyable and interesting. You wil learn much from his sketches of these men.

Doyle is one of our finest writers. These are portraits of depth and perception. Doyle displays his admiration and respect of these men with clear lucid and affectionate prose.I recommend this book with great enthusiasm.

I learned from reading this, but I much prefer and really appreciate Brian Doyle's fiction. Interesting facts, otherwise not known to me.

Brian Doyle is the best

Author Brian Doyle is a man of fine words who has written about 11 other men of fine words--authors or musicians and songwriters.This is really a man's (man's) book about what it means to be a man. The author says in his introduction: This book is a collection of resurrections, restorations, reconsiderations, appreciations, enthusiasm, headlong solos, laughing prayers, imaginary meetings with most unusual and most interesting men.The author brought these men to life: Van Morrison, William Blake, Pultarch of Greece, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rider Haggard, Paul Desmond, Jim Kjelgaard, Graham Greene, James Joyce, Paul Kelly--and finally a special friend, Bob Boehmer.Doyle writes about British writer Graham Greene, that he wrote about hearts--that was why he was a great novelist, with his great sub-sub-characters.Writer Rider Haggard, who wrote stories for young adults about animals and boys and forests, is quoted as saying, "I started writing because it seemed just naturally to be heading in that direction anyhow."As more of a jazz fan than a lover of the literary, I especially enjoyed the section on Paul Desmond, the amazing alto saxophone player known for his many years playing and traveling worldwide with the Dave Brubeck Quartet--and his own musical creations, such as "Take Five." Before Desmond died in 1977 at age 52 of lung cancer (ironic because he drank a lot and his liver was fine)--he decreed that the American Red Cross benefit from sales of his recordings and compositions. In the years since, the American Red Cross has received more than $3 million from his generosity.Because of Doyle's focus on these men, I believe a man who loves to read about great men will really appreciate knowing more about these both common and--I sure did. That's powerful stuff!!Armchair Interviews says: In Spirited Men: Story, Soul & Substance, Doyle's digging out of facts, both interesting and thoughtful, was incredible. His own writing is first-rate as he writes about these men, some of ancient and others of more current history.