Smokey Hollow

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Smokey Hollow, the common name of a low-income Dublin neighborhood, is the setting for Quinn's ( Sit Down and Be Counted ) ``fictional memoir,'' a series of linked vignettes. But while the use of a third-person narrator raises the story above the merely sentimental, it also distances the reader; one is drawn in by the dialogue, only to be rebuffed by a overly detached narrative tone. As a counterbalance, Quinn enlivens the tales with Irish slang, some of which he immediately translates and most of which can be understood in context. The vignettes revolve around the male children of the Toner family, focusing on Dominic, the next-to-youngest, whose father has declared him ``a perfect example of folk memory.'' Much of the ironic humor is derived from the literal way children understand the adult world. The vignettes involve childhood pranks, family memories, vacation experiences and holiday traditions. They are entertaining and may elicit readers' nostalgia. (July)