The First Verse

Barry McCrea's first novel, The First Verse, opens with the words 'In the end...' Straight away you are aware this is a clever, playful and courageous writer. The world McCrea describes is MY world. We must have sat beside eachother at lectures in Trinity College Dublin without knowing. He paints a picture familiar to me and hundreds like me who attended Trinners in the years which gave birth to the 'celtic tiger' - Ireland's booming economic miracle. Being gay in Dublin has never been easy. And being a literary boffin just makes it worse! The main character in this novel inhabits various such parallel universes at once. The story is propelled along by cultish mysteries and the recognition that a youth culture, born without direction or values, is more prepared to live their lives according to hocus-pocus than to actually take control of their own lives and accept responsibility for their life-choices. This book is so well-written and thought out that it must surely join the ranks of such luminary Irish writers as Joyce and Beckett. Even the tiniest detail of Dublin is so well observed and noted that I am all the more in a state of shock that THE FIRST VERSE has not yet been published in Ireland and seems to be aimed primarily at the U.S. market. Irish people don't yet know Barry McCrea. But, once they do discover his first novel, he will be the toast of a whole generation who recognise their city and themselves amongst its finely crafted pages.

Barry McCrea steps into the ranks of the great Irish writers with this impressive debut novel, THE FIRST VERSE. Not only has he come up with a clever and fascinating idea for a story, one far more unique than many a seasoned pro, he also demonstrates that he has the gift for creating prose that rings with intelligence and brilliance of style. This young man most assuredly has a major future in literature. Not that reading McCrea is easy: he demands (and willingly receives) the reader's full attention. Wisping off into several languages in the course of his story, not unlike his kinsman James Joyce, McCrea makes us frequently pause, back up a bit to assure we are with him, then proceeds to lift the reader into flight with a tale that encompasses so many ideas that we become part of the strange world in which he is traveling. Niall Lenihan is a gay student entering Trinity College in Dublin, a lad with some frustrated yearnings who begins to make friends, among them Sarah and John, two fellow students whose strange bonding involves a game of 'sortes' - ask a question, then choose a random book, turn to a random page and select a random sentence to answer that question. The game results in a state of synchronicity, with much of what happens in life to every person somehow related by chance...or is it? Niall's needs lead him to embrace the casual sex of the clubs of Dublin, finding here and there potential mates, until he begins to concentrate on John and Sarah, becoming gradually more involved with their game and the vague society called Pour Mieux Vivre, and a mastermind by the name of Luis with whom Sarah communicates by email. Falling deeply into the 'synchronicity' of this obsession causes Niall to ultimately avoid a potential lover Chris, and to move away from the dorm rooms of Trinity College, finally following the now distant John and Sarah to Paris where he must make a decision about where is life is leading him. The above summary only touches some of the peaks of the story as McCrea has woven a tale so refined and so grounded with reality yet effervescent with desired fantasy that distilling the entire range of the novel would rob the reader of the pleasure of the process of reading MY FIRST VERSE. It is enough to say that here is a book for those who love to read, for those who treasure brilliant writing, for those willing to spend time with a novel that, while at all times propulsive, is not an easy read. In Niall Lenihan we have a character who will likely become one of the memorable ones of literature: he may excite us, frustrate us with his decisions, roil our patience, but he is a character we grow to love as we see much of ourselves seeded in his vulnerable psyche. THE FIRST VERSE is an exceptionally fine novel. For everyone who thrives on literary brilliance, this is a must read! Highly recommended. Grady Harp, May 06

THE FIRST VERSE is about a group of people, one of them a first-year student at Trinity College, Dublin, who literally live by words. At once a penetrating psychological study, a totally convincing fantasy, and a compelling mystery-thriller, in which, like a reverse Donnie Darko, the reality of the story may all hinge on a revelatory moment near the end (in this case a seemingly throwaway statement). Utterly riveting; it ate up three days of my life and left me wanting to ask the author how much of it was actually true. The ultimate "literary" novel, this book should be on every responsible periodical's "ten best" list-from the New York Times to Out and the Advocate (none of which even bothered to acknowledge its existence by reviewing it).

As I write this, proper words are completely escaping me to convey how accomplished this debut is, on nearly every level. Mr. McCrea never misses a beat in making sure that he's keeping enough of the plot secret, while teasing and satisfying the reader with enough information and emotion to force the turning of the page. I'm now reading my third novel since "The First Verse" and I wish I were reading it again for the first time. Also, although the main character is gay, this is NOT a "gay" novel, and anyone passing over it for that reason is missing out on an incredibly rich and entertaining read that (possibly) surpasses "The Secret History" as my favorite novel. It's obviously one of Mr. McCrea's favorites too, as he pays homage to it in both obvious and subtle ways.

Barry McCrea's THE FIRST VERSE is a charming, compelling and intelligent novel. Niall's journey into and out of (and back into and back out of) a kind of cult for bookworms is beautifully and convincingly rendered. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this novel is that it has a hypnotic effect - so that the reader falls under its sway just as Niall falls under the sway of the cult. And because it's a cult built upon phrases pulled out of books, the very act of reading THE FIRST VERSE makes the reader feel like an honorary cult member. Scene for scene, this is an entertaining, often funny, and immensely rewarding book.