Old School

OLD SCHOOL, the latest release from Snubnose Press, is now live on the interwebs. You can order a copy right here.  If you’re one of those readers looking to cash in on the special free offer, this is the page where you leave your comment.

Why call the collection OLD SCHOOL? Bette Davis, in her later years, famously noted that “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.” (And no, you young punks, if you don’t know, I’m not gonna tell you who she was. You got your smartphones and your damn Wikipedia. Look her up.)  In these stories, some of the protaganists may not quite be old yet, but ain’t none of them young anymore. They’re well past the solipsism of youth, that grandiose narcissim that lets those in their teens and twenties imagine the world as a stage devoted to their glories. Every character in this collection knows that life isn’t a stage, it’s a ring. And you’d better learn to take a punch, because life is the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world. You might land a shot here and there, but you are gonna get your ass beat and, in the end, you’re going down for the count. Life is however-many-billions and 0, and each of us is just one more digit on the wrong end of that equation.

Still not sold? Here’s what some writer-type folk have to say.

“Whip smart and razor sharp – these stories are fast, mean, and true to the very bone. Dan O’Shea can write.” 

     Lou Berney, author of GUTSHOT STRAIGHT

 

“Sometimes O’Shea writes with this savage and wild masculine abandon – guns and broken fucking bones and toothbrushes jammed into the backs of skulls and a muscular but jaded outlook on the vagaries of mankind and the cruelty of fate. And other times, he writes with such poise, such perfect emotional rapport that you feel a horror of intimacy – he makes monstrous criminals human and understandable and the average everyday schmucks seem like demons in human skin. He can swing from erudite to profane, from the sublime to the perverted, like it ain’t no thing. I’ve read thousands of books, no one writes like Dan O’Shea. He’s a major fucking talent. The world will know.”

 

     John Hornor Jacobs, author of SOUTHERN GODS and THIS DARK EARTH

 

“Dan O’Shea is a madman and “Old School” is a collection of stories marked by twisted, violent beauty, the best fiction by an ex-boxer since FX Toole’s “Rope Burns.” I’m buying several so that he doesn’t have to get back into the ring.”

     Scott Philips, author of THE ICE HARVEST, THE WALKAWAY, COTTONWOOD and THE ADJUSTMENT

 

“Dan O’Shea’s writing hits hard. The characters in OLD SCHOOL are mad, bad, and dangerous to know. But they are also filled with genuine longing, desperation, and sorrow, making them resonate off the page. No matter how far they’ve fallen, there’s always something more to lose.”

     Hilary Davidson, author of  THE DAMAGE DONE and THE NEXT ONE TO FALL  

 

“OLD SCHOOL is a literary oh-shit moment, the kind of writing that demands you sit up and take notice. In story after story, O’Shea disappears into his characters, so vividly do they come to life — and so brutally do they kill. The stories in OLD SCHOOL ain’t the kind to feature sexy, badass twentysomethings, who — for all their bitching — could fit their worries and belongings both into a backpack and still leave room for a sixer of PBR. OLD SCHOOL is full of folks with jobs, with debt, with families, with regret; folks with shit to lose, and heights from which to fall. That makes them real. That makes them desperate. OLD SCHOOL is tough and funny and honest and brutal — and on occasion, all at once. In short, it’s not to be missed.”

     Chris F. Holm, author of DEAD HARVEST and 8 POUNDS

 

“Dan O’Shea is a master of characters filled with grit and fascinating depth.  Old School grabs you by the gut with the first story and roars to the end.  I couldn’t stop turning that pages and I’ll never think of Girl Scout cookies in the same way ever again.”

     Joelle Charbonneau, author of SKATING AROUND THE LAW, SKATING OVER THE LINE and MURDER FOR CHOIR

 

“Dan O’Shea’s short stories are proof that not only can an old dog learn new tricks, but that he’ll rip off your fiddly bits if you give him a dirty look. This collection — which features stolen organs, Shakespeare-as-shamus, and the secret Scotch of Ernest F**king Shackleton — demonstrates O’Shea’s ability to a pen a keenly cruel crime-flavored yarn.”

     Chuck Wendig, author or BLACKBIRDS and DOUBLE DEAD

 

“Dan O’Shea infuses his writing with a grounded humanity that gives OLD SCHOOL a serious punch.  Tales of men and women from the far side of life, with too many years and too many miles on them.  These are powerful stories of doing the right things for the wrong reasons, of sacrifice and desperate measures.  From the short, quick jab of ABSALOM to the slow and sad SHACKLETON’S HOOCH, these are stories you’re not going to forget.”

 

     Stephen Blackmoore, author of CITY OF THE LOST

 

“Dan O’Shea’s OLD SCHOOL gets under your skin like a meth itch. From the heart-breaking (“Shackleton’s Hootch,” “Absalom,” and “Sheepshank”) to the ball-breaking (“Hilary’s Scars,” “Thin Mints”) and everything in-between, this outstanding collection brings it. Like the dinner buffet at the Sizzler around 4 p.m., this selection of stories offers a range of choices and leaves you feeling tired, beaten, and well satisfied. In a world of shelves filled with lesser talent, reading O’Shea’s work is both a comfort and a concern – like that quick moment just after you’ve soiled yourself.”

     Steve Weddle, Editor-in-Chief of NEEDLE, a Magazine of Noir

 

“O’Shea is my kind of writer; hard and honest, fast and funny. Old School is full of elders who demand your respect, at the point of a shotgun. The characters talk like real people, and make decisions like desperate people; meth heads, killers, drug dealers and gigolo’s, this books got it all. After reading this, I’ll always  think twice before trying to knock over a Girl Scout.”

 

     Jay Stringer, author of OLD GOLD, coming in 2012 from Thomas & Mercer

 

 

 

“In OLD SCHOOL, Daniel O’ Shea brings together a powerful collection of hard-hitting stories with a cast of degenerate characters you’d find at a hole-in-the-wall bar, hunkered down over a dimly lit beer-stained table, snorting lines of gunpowder.”

     Matthew McBride, author of FRANK SINATRA IN A BLENDER