Inner-city youths and men living—and dying—for their “outsider” sexuality . . .

The five stories and two short novellas in This Thing Called Courage examine the lives of gay men and gay youth in South Boston, a heavily Irish-Catholic working-class community. In a place known for its fierce loyalty to ‘our own’and a strong, traditional religious ethic, we meet characters caught in the crossfire of traditional values, Irish tragedy, and the inevitable intrusion of diversity. The result of this lethal mix is often tragic, sometimes redemptive, and sometimes disastrous, but always compelling.