Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Danny Gospel
    Danny Gospel
    Danny Gospel
    Ebook263 pages3 hours

    Danny Gospel

    By David Athey

    3/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A riveting quest for true love, capturing the journey of a wounded soul toward hope restored. Perfect for readers of Charles Martin or Dale Cramer.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBaker Publishing Group
    Release dateApr 1, 2008
    ISBN9781441205001

    Related to Danny Gospel

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Danny Gospel

    3/5

    27 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Have you ever wondered what the world looks like to someone whose mind does not connect with the world the way most of us do? "Danny Gospel" is told from the viewpoint of a young man who loves God and his neighbors, but who shows his love in ways that are almost incomprehensible to the people around him. He searches for someone to make him feel loved, yet can't accept love when it's offered.David Athey's book is disturbing in the way it shows how very much like Danny Gospel we can all be. Read it once just to understand how mental illness affects the mind.
    • 4/5
      Danny Gospel is heroic and foolish and struggling to do God's will while being normal and happy. The story he tells is full of all the elements that his grandmother calls up in her history of the Gospel family, especially in having their full share of suffering.Athey has created a character, Danny Gospel, who lives in a world that most call dreamlike. In fact, some say that he is crazy. His life seems to be a patchwork of one parable after another as he seeks God despite many tragedies that have befallen his family and him personally. At times it can be somewhat difficult to discern when Danny has fallen into a daydream and when he is reporting reality, however, if the reader is prepared to drift along in Danny's world there is a great deal of insight to be found. For instance, one might begin by remembering that "Gospel" means "Good News." Or perhaps one would begin by remembering that Daniel was a prophet who spoke to angels and this character is named Danny. Even if one cares to look no further than the surface there is a great deal to be gleaned about seeking God in our lives from this novel.One could also look at this as a cautionary tale of those who spend so much time looking for clues to God's plan that they forget the best way to do his will is by living in God's plan. In other words, life is what happens while we are living it ... and most of the time no amount of head scratching can see God's plan as clearly as Danny strives to. I am not criticizing the book or character here but that element spoke quite strongly to me as I have seen several friends put themselves through a considerable amount of mental anguish while trying to "discern." Most of the time it is in the little quirks of life and "happenstance" that God's will for us unfolds and this is something that we can also take from this book.I must admit that I was so surprised by the ending that I read it three times to make sure I had all the details. I then pondered this book for several days. It is an unusual book that can make me do such a thing. What I concluded was that the author is conveying a story of salvation and redemption, of God's refusal to give up on us, and of the power of love.I must also mention that in looking around the internet at other reviews I found a certain subset of readers who were baffled and dismayed by Athey's free-flowing style. Perhaps it is the great amount of science fiction that I have read, but being plunged into the midst of a story like this is a familiar experience. I am used to having to float and pick up contextual information while getting one's bearings. It is not that the author does not give us a framework, but that the protagonist is rather free-form in his own life and mind. In any event, if you give it some time then it becomes simple to adjust to it.
    • 5/5
      When I first read Danny Gospel by David Athey, I jumped right in and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a ride of theme park proportions with something unexpected at every turn. Although I saw it as lighthearted and humorous, I knew there was something more to it.On second reading I saw the dark side. The humor I saw on first reading was of the "if I don't laugh, I'll cry" variety. Danny is a lost individual. It's understandable. He lost most of his family and he lost his family farm. He even lost his real name in a sense, since he's still known as Danny Gospel because his family was a gospel singing group, although he no longer sings. There are other losses and the losses of 9/11, though not personal, are perhaps just too much for Danny. Danny just wants a normal life and, probably without realizing it, he starts out on a journey to find it. He doesn't know where he is or where he's going and he didn't know what to do about it until, in October of 2001, an average, lovely woman appears in his bedroom and kisses him. He still doesn't really know what he should do, only that he has to do something.Danny Gospel is written in first person, so we get Danny's slightly skewed view of things. There were points in this story when I wondered what was "real" and what was Danny's imagination. It's deftly written so that we are never quite sure. I found nothing in the book predictable, and yet it all makes sense and follows logically, taking into account Danny's state of mind. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end.
    • 5/5
      This is an extraordinary novel of spiritual quest. Danny Gospel is a man of rare faith, but not a person who's remotely aware of the ways of those who seek confirmation of their piety. Danny is a holy fool, who could have stepped out of Flannery O'Connor's dreams. We can all be grateful that O'Connor's novels and short stories weren't "workshopped." Like tweety-bird in the jaws of Sylvester, the Holy Spirit would have been choked to death. It's the unpredictable nature of God's Spirit whom Danny seeks, and it's Athey's genius to know that the territory only moves toward the horizon--and to bring us to it through the language of the creative, merciful, and humorous Divine--and the absurd bittersweet of redemption. DANNY GOSPEL is destined to be a classic of American Literature.
    • 2/5
      As an aspiring novelist I was eager to read David's first novel. I learned quite a bit, too. Now I have one more name to add to my list of thanks when that day comes. This novel missed its mark in so many ways. Had it been workshopped, I truly believe it could have told a very wonderful story. Telling a story in a first person narrative is a very difficult task because it's hard to create round characters, even the narrator/protagonist often suffers which Danny Gospel did. I felt the sword carriers had more of a part in his story often times more than the central ones. I also found it difficult to visualize the characters such as the bad boy, Jon, Danny's older brother, whose features never really formed well enough for me to "see." Mind you, I wasn't a fan of NYPD Blue's filmography style that attempts to shoot from a bystander's perspective, dancing about the room to a point I felt nauseated and wound up merely changing the channel. Athey's style is much like the written version. It was fairly evident the protagonist was experiencing senility, but bouncing me around the story didn't help me one bit. If anything, it irritated me. Transitions were vague at points, too careless at others and downright senseless in several instances. And this is where workshopping is so important. There was a very brief mention of a long history of Danny's lunacy and it popped me right out of the story, especially considering the source of the remark about Danny's crazed history. This isn't what we mean by an unreliable narrator! Given that it's taken me this long to finish the book (it arrived mid-January, I believe) is a clue as to how frustrating it was to read the book. I am a voracious reader, typically finishing a book within a week, if not much sooner. Is David completely off my radar? No, but he's hanging on the edge. I do think there were some beautiful descriptions, a potential for weaving a multi-faceted tale, but my word of caution (or advice) is to workshop it 'til you're blue in the face because this one came off, in my opinion, as a rushed, work in progress that wasn't finished and polished. Sadly, I feel this novel is a soft 2 out of 5 stars. Good luck with your next, David.
    • 2/5
      I received an Early Reviewers free copy, which arrived about a month after I was notified that it was coming - by mail from Bethany House publishers in the US. This is an Advance Reading Copy, with many markings to say it's an unedited manuscript, unrevised and unpublished proofs, "please do not quote until verified with finished book". So I guess there might be some changes made to the final version.It's a slim volume, 159 pages, with a jacket blurb that makes it sound very good. I was excited to read it!Unfortunately, my first impression was rather disappointing and frustrating. Small passages are pleasant to read, with pretty descriptions, and a likeable protagonist. Various mysteries are gradually explained as the book progresses, through memories or snippets of conversation that refer to the past. Ultimately though it is very confusing. The narrator seems to be keeping some secrets, and his search for true love and family love and religious truth is left unfinished by a very abrupt ending. To me this was very frustrating, and seemingly senseless. Also the question of his mental health is unresolved - was he just hallucinating various episodes or were they real, and did he get better or worse during the course of the book? So many decisions Danny makes seem to be on impulse, by chance, or by divination; it's hard to know if he's crazy or divinely inspired. And many of the people he meets, especially in Florida, seem to be just as lost and impulsive as he is. I must read the book again, and try to decipher whatever religious allegory may be here, and whatever further clues there are to Rachel's fate and the mail-tampering accusations. But so far, I just don't get what the author is trying to show here, unless it's the futility of trying to make sense of Danny and his vague quest. I hoped the ending would bring loose ends together and make everything clear, but it seemed to make a nonsense of everything that had happened.Compared to other recent reads like Louis Sachar's Holes, anything by Terry Pratchett, other books featuring mental health issues like Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, anything by Margaret Atwood... this is a confusing, weak and flawed book, and I really didn't get it. Possibly my fault - sorry David Athey.
    • 3/5
      Very well written. Meanders too much at times. I find it difficult to stick with a book that I don't believe in, but this was a book that I was able to sort of trust with my heart (hence the four stars).
    • 3/5
      I finished this title hours ago, and I can’t stop thinking about it – and not in a good way.This puppy was simply odd. In hindsight, I have absolutely no hesitation in stating the reason I even kept reading it was that there were some powerful images and some extremely artistic writing ability on display in certain parts of this title. It was how those parts were strung together which caused the problem. Danny Gospel is the middle child of a former Gospel singing group comprised of his family. After experiencing a debilitating series of horrific events, there are indications that Danny may not be with all of his faculties – of course, we also learn that people have been wondering that most of his life. The story line is a meandering narrative of his life experiences with significant events falling out in drips and drabs – with some of them mentioned so casually it forces a re-read to make sure you caught those words correctly (*wait, what just happened?* ). Most of the references are eventually tied together and/or resolved (I did say “most”) but there are just so many of them that it’s a bit trying. Here, off the top of my head, is a litany of what this book is “about”: 9/11, the anthrax mail scare, cancer, mental illness, drug abuse, self mutilation, Palm Beach, friendship, religion, communicating with insects, lust and more. For me, here is one of the more thought provoking aspects of the book: It is marketed as “Christian Fiction”, and there is no question that religion, prayer, the voice of God, etc. is simply dripping from this book. No problem there. But is there an underlying reason why the character who is living his life making every effort to follow the voice and will of God is the one who everyone thinks is crazy? I will admit, if someone told me they received driving directions from a mosquito, I would think they were pretty whacked, so why is that in this book…twice? In the end, I ranked it fairly low because en balance, I’m not convinced the literary moments which occurred in this writing (and there were many and some were very powerful) were sufficient to compensate for the time I invested in finishing it.
    • 2/5
      Some words that popped into my head while reflecting on “Danny Gospel” after finishing it: Dreamy. Meandering. Mystical. Confused.Danny is a 25-year-old Iowan with a broken heart. In a very short period of time, his life has been devastated by the twin peaks of loss and mundanity, and to some extent, also by the Twin Towers in New York. But despite these hurdles, he maintains a charismatic, and at times unorthodox, belief in God. He religiously follows signs and portents. At times his destiny is defined by dreams; at others, he follows the directions of mosquitos. Snatches of conversation throughout the book reveal that most people, even those closest to Danny, believe he is mentally ill. Because the story is told in first person, the reader never really knows with certainty whether Danny is a mystic, or if he needs a serious dose of antidepressants.“Danny Gospel” reads a bit like an allegory, reminding me passingly of Paulo Coelho’s novels, though Athey’s sentences aren’t packed with nearly the level of symbolism and meaning as the former’s. (Maybe this is ok, because I’m not really a Coelho fan.) Every author has a reason for what he or she does: point of view, chronology, setting, etc. As someone who deeply appreciates how hard it is to write a book, to finish it, I hesitate to suggest improvements. But that said, I can’t help but wonder if this story might have worked a little better in third person. If the narrative voice were a little more omnicient, the internal tension, and thus the forward momentum of the story might have been stronger. With my general confusion over what was really happening in the story, it ended with not really feeling knew I Danny, the truth of who he is. In an interesting turn, prior to reading this book, knowing I would be advance-reading it, the author, who was apparently given (or perhaps tracked down) my email address, sent me a friendly message. In our brief correspondence, Athey said he almost named the book “Danny Quixote.” Given this revelation, I look at “Danny Gospel” a little differently than I might otherwise. So here are a few other thoughts.Danny is a sojourner, a kind of knight errant on a quest, seeking escape from a boring existence; at times heroically saving a life, often misunderstood and getting into scrapes, pursuing what may be an imaginary woman; having some road-trips; his best-friend is comically oafish but kind and intelligent (think, Sancho Panza); Danny is frequently thought to be crazy…. All of these themes parallel those found in “Don Quixote” (which I read last year). Had the book been marketed as a “Quixote-esque” journey of faith, I would have been thrilled.In the end, “Danny Gospel” simply isn’t my kind of book. I didn’t love it; I didn’t hate it. It is certainly one of the more literary “Christian novels” I’ve read, and it certainly isn’t “canned.” It is a worthy attempt. This, coupled with the sweet homage to the beloved Cervantes, has left me feeling kindly towards it.
    • 2/5
      Synopsis: As a boy he performed concerts singing old-time hymns with his family and got so famous he's still known around Iowa as Danny Gospel. But since then, things haven't worked out quite the way he planned. And now Danny prays for just one thing: a normal, happy life. What he gets instead is a kiss. He wakes one morning to a perfectly lovely woman dressed in white who leans down, kisses him on the lips . . . and then disappears. The next moment, Danny finds himself launched into a quest to find this woman he's sure is his true love. He is an everyday hero on anything but an everyday journey—dreaming impossible dreams and, no matter how much he must suffer, pursuing romance and heavenly glory.I personally prefer books with mostly happy endings, and those that have story lines that are linear and coherent. This book was a little lacking in both. The author's prose was pretty and descriptive. I could picture the countryside of Iowa, where most of the story was set, but I couldn't help feeling that I only had part of the book. Maybe this should have been a novella? It rambled back and forth in the time line of the main character's life, and it was hard to follow what was happening in places. This may have been the way the author chose to write the story, which was narrated by a very confused main character, Danny. Danny was interesting, as were a couple of the minor characters like Grease and Danny's brother - I just wish there had been more fleshing out of the whole story. I also felt like Danny's family should have come from the Ozarks, instead of Iowa, based on their religious bent and manner of speaking. The time the novel was set in was supposed to be post-9/11, but the people spoke in such a 19th century style, I was not convinced of the modern setting. Overall, it was an okay book, but it could have been much better.

    Book preview

    Danny Gospel - David Athey

    1^book_preview_excerpt.html}\[#ǑJIhP.wlƆWk9$?P Tb=t{d=" L&NHTfFFxx<ׯo'W/_еׯbP~CֵcƫOҧph߼ϳX )˯ N唵1 TlϾb̺c9Se݌yƲ„ESi|RzJym1 m}5T)k:]_v>{MjOWxlܽ|Å}]vهKSi_s}BϿ/kz{IaufׇlKʳve^woVw!9c6N]<ŌAkylIG9=Ajѿ_'  Eq $WΞLa-V9/e5C]6B?t4M%VpZBtC~.d?>ഇiģTSuUsN[”\jSWTsM]Z8c4(('Aۮj[Lw:v̡N!Ծ h wToNC첾gL!IJUb}һXOOEK~Ύ@sAC"4x8vyQAnP=vϿ}Īc v8 ㋣O!4<\Rxl0)NwGb\>^#Δ!'n#AY]J[\[6 d+x.SJu B(\oO~#"˻4k~#2 66=4򿬎Sĺi0cVu` p&6prcl&!rl%zDY|p]6!bwgYe#Wꉲ9aP|&6vdA C) yn&dGyUӸtA:~\9Jj8E/+RN\1АB͕o#a{=K% QIN5[S3 $Pg9l8t"{;9; ?5!G g1,hY>c 4&Bd ,A1h&tȗ~z@ Mx耓pga0 >^L]fu䩏2'BytǤ#b~d+TRCa|?![uZ땴yԂI\rPG*%Ћr7Cў/>QpMׇ#4rűSSYqOZ{_rrS3[pEe4R( +( D=m:LwB7Oo O\tkf-u&P#\`0R5'>ĕs;d|e&2AG(uuR#I)f[X[y7LqlM0 u)%0u9$?;0p߱ZP:5ŅwNăP<lG|b}oÂyW|4;b'S%dR cм kpE \ʗi= ?uFܬ t$+Ť`"[ 76.]tF%g2=zBPEm$hV_SԮݴb#is;T$|TgT~ZdGV27)Kp$HKZ>B(&0£Τ (t_'TN?'Hc;E1E=궘Ғe"0Ek,;|@oYYǂgzcx&ff3]l6rdP@yo&~z-XTy-{(gܙƃ^OUצ`8>L/a>&]!Ṉjl4"gK ި_V I=R3:VTRb#BˁRH'랚2^,O t"U|ڷVkRiD:X-& \KF|wv[W^㕉#wH5Ip2w.ŭȶH0yb`C`Pq<rATR 3D_(+h{/4TP{Š憆`䷝%]*#DA[vAɣQT0l4לsꯐd >w3~>wUy2r1\-IvF_;9|?&hTq Y.';{((6G?ϣ͢>Q3NPAaMdML28u-353sI|{=%BN3ex#"bߕ $~3xܦ0]FQ?o7Z,&bя6Ⰹ| 搃)GXRǣv9n 2s;f(^=7&[,_+ֳ=W'4ԗ|Ѹ3p"XCժB+5/~h|G.%V\מ3T8v;êdm6:ybx$Mi4}Ǜ4ӷy:WdD-;"%7~ovRk'V#EC"I̜*x9x&,`XeR9Rs3V PNmt|/:h.?0Ѽ܎%HAH`~?lٮ 5X1|0>up]"zRNIhMmWFm&J jjcW#??Ug c>o*Dcזqaڱ1-zdO]X]hGE50QsL,#* G>&e 7%Y DU5?]0Sc$v` Dj3U<*߾cRwqij"}2‰X΢ێeN,GTBy&ie`7$$hUx ^1<1ƔY (bkG>h`{$Jp&SZgJ-8c8iJƞ?c)x":J(h%ƲyQ ,-GXp;D1@ 갔7FWT#uUkEJOĨ466X~$1j'"gLXTXh=E*6,ͫ"^bӛt%m #EqoUªQ,|)D5=_$ם59l,Q!`8[<Ӂ#ka".PI f>'r<^ 9u~̟)lOO p||=O^~c8B]+&&-X9Vcw&aGN9Oѓ4VByi#pO7 A@Ӗosiiŷ0qg&%oG!CQ`z%4zڔmrkyB%Mj,Ǻޭ\M1xrBa-gvu}e>kTX5q3kB7wQ(r3eD]*@;WFQEꄎ1Іg=aTl 2M%;#]d^UwM M-Su-`  O{V[/=8*XC? { 7Vg"%^å&`jG*>8Ǿ hv j`eEC RTB9q^J*T n`i!W0Pmܚ(Zǩ~Jxllӳ7!1mnų6pB{e_0s)"dl#$2bNi$&fɛʇCj" 5LOkCJ*\;-%D{^A0z&6>Pe°_mHv||XcvU~%"6@e&F5"!设 ~Mqiy3;գNIQ[`h G|*pcryb_v|$IĨ]I[>:.7=s'|xg!}z(05>n'ae%yn*`ù0¹G+xkӒo+yE^.8i+6*ߥb\zU`)$w)"y)Y5V6l%GvsθG2ƅ&Y`u>V >nXϹw? u'ʭNK3 _9?wnp"_)TBL@!I<^0YecŦk+]Iz:^\Kߩprcc[k!Z`r_ǖœȼ1Ŧwi߰; gn;0o/EܵtQCP6<dC95k(j?ճKpNX.@鼇Z?VQIUcmg* `[ 2(&R6w㙓jdYÜV0,墔i ;:0oe_*chPZt@n.t!t4^Nsmr/S‚'=~g-6{aq`Z/z#k|}g db쫱I8B6>8jyWr!rl& ں&oGy7xk"ܼ.U1?m}=^$Ջwx׈%d BJP=1%ڕmSo9)ՐH@s 3ڱQ TV`+թ1CI9q s6%Ӎh6 ǻ*4R!FV)Coy-RK\8ԍ ; '_Z1MRyJ^?,`'v2ݚ{*'UnC&6QAy(_?\BajU6U΍tQbnJ[:önyLPu%Rk v-Rɬ tK^^h X|tOEbFR!-CG\M7UǕ Fbñ#BK&fO\:H~0)n[Yo3(i)Cig==TJ=['Z"CXô` S涤MMxsMzu H^ 8J;]jB32!N+Hp#;ٙxR7˷-faiNZ:2XZR./q0>袄Wư+iBɗ;tn'ҥ"]aO#7cq㉜c2ivڼ`uxF"ʈ5S5H@H9W݇KN&YEM$t4lm\W1[탡a2֮hVq@pgK_d < iv{iӂ [`c DJ{!I O5@+gATfbcs/_i*LhCДZ)w+W:ۯ[!ԛf襢 nۯxwNZX~!cmG}q7ΤR|NN}TdZCӖQ :gg:ꇈZw†]V [z_[xXt8)C~623G_+R +NfEױYaI6MW/7q,Mޏe-S}a^EHhd1ݷZ?r˯aU>j̿^!:[KR <*y7^qzM
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1