Shouts

It is 1915. A great war is coming to America. You are in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, a bastion of ethnic German enterprise and culture, and struggling Irish laborers. German spies and saboteurs roam the city. Firebrand Irish soapbox orators inflame crowds with anti-war speeches. Paranoia, hatred, and politics rage in the streets. The social and economic fabric of the city begins to unravel.

Enraged by the sinking of the Lusitania, pro-war thugs severely injure a German junk dealer and his grandson, young Tommy Muldoon. The boy’s Irish nationalist father collaborates with German terrorists with disastrous consequences for himself and his family. Under this tumultuous backdrop, young Muldoon takes over the junk business and sets out to save his family, by day in the junkyard, by night taking boxing instruction from a Catholic priest.

A sumptuous tapestry, interwoven with meticulously researched details, SHOUTS tells of the last days of the pre-World War I golden age. The richly detailed narrative orchestrates the profuse voices of its characters--priests and bartenders, boxers and violinists, politicians and brew masters. The book resounds with the symphony of those tempestuous days full tone and tint. And at the end, Tommy Muldoon stands alone in the ring facing his destiny. And the reader, by knowing better those particular times past, now better understands the times today.

James Ryan was born and raised in The Bronx, New York. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he holds an MFA from Columbia University. His poetry, short fiction, literary criticism, and political commentary have appeared in numerous publications. He was a columnist for Aydinlik Daily, a newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey.