Winter Birds

Readers and reviewers have panned this novel as grim. But it is a celebration of the courage of Danny, a character who reappears (starring) in the novel "Comfort & Joy." We all know abuse happens - especially in situations of poverty. Compound that with the inherent abuse of an ignorant father against his small hemophiliac child and you have a definite "tear-jerker." Defying cliche, again, as he does in all of his novels,... Read Full Review

This book has a voice like no other. I have read all of Grimsley's books and loved them all, but this is my favorite. Grimsley combines present tense and second person to create an utterly unique narrative character, Danny Crell. Neither Danny nor Jim Grimsley flinch away from any event in Danny's life, no matter how horrible or violent. The result is a realistic and terrible story told with unparalleled clarity, simplicity,... Read Full Review

A friend recommended highly "Winter Birds" to me. It is one of the most remarkable gifts I've ever been given. Cold and winter outside my window, and in this book too. Electric and frightening and so bare bones nostalgia it left me shaken. Danny might be everyboy. I've known people who were in this brooding sad violent despair. I've known Danny in a way. A brave frighened gentle child with hemophilia which, my friend believes,... Read Full Review

Having just read "Comfort & Joy" and finding it a highly successful novel, I took fellow reviewers' suggestion and traced this author's literary progress by reading his initial novel, "Winter Birds". An incredible journey! Not only is his first novel enormously engrossing (like the fascination of watching an autopsy), learning the narrator's (Danny Crell) history supplements his further life voyage in "Comfort..."... Read Full Review

A friend loaned me this book without comment but knowing that I am a juvenile court judge. I know this family in dozens of permutations, but I will empathize more when I see them next thanks to Jim Grimsley. I started and finished the book in one sitting last night. It is a powerfully executed visit inside the life of a boy who is surviving a violent family minute-by-minute. The characters cry out for peace, for relief... Read Full Review