Heaven Lies About Us

I ordered this because i lost my old copy. I love most of the stories and think that McCabe us wonderful. There are a few yarns towards the back that dont match up but the classics like Cancer etc are perfect.

You're only happy under the earth. This or something like it says one of McCabe's characters but they should be all intoning it like a litany of doom. You gain 5 dismal insights into the depths of our cruelty and coldness to each other on every page.That isn't to say the stories aren't well written, they are, nor is it to say that one doesn't learn a good deal about Irland's tragic history, but I find that they lose all credibility by their unrelieved grimness. Call me Polyanna but life isn't like this all the time, it just isn't. I'd read McCabe in anthologies, and with a stiff drink at hand. More than one of these stories is more than enough.

Incredible writing, gloomy but beautiful. The title story is one of the best short stories I've ever read.