The Author
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David Athey
David Athey, a Midwesterner by birth, now teaches English and oversees the literary journal at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Athey has published poems, reviews, and short stories in numerous journals, including The Iowa Review, Oxford Magazine,...
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Reviews
"This unusual faith-based novel explores pain and redemption through the eyes of Daniel David McGillicuddy (or 'Danny Gospel' as he is known), a mentally disturbed Iowa mail carrier with a cross-shaped scar on his chest. All but his older brother in the singing Gospel Family have died, and when not delivering the mail, Danny wanders farm fields or meanders through his memory. Athey portrays much of Danny's current life as a long hallucination, punctuated with lucidity and remembrances of a tragic but loving Christian childhood. As he slips into deep trouble--a barroom brawl, a job loss, a faith healing backfires--Danny must flee his Iowa home 'where all the stories make sense.' His friend Grease, a mechanic with a penchant for strip clubs, helps Danny escape in a pink Cadillac to Palm Beach, Fla., where he takes up with a ragtag group in a condemned building, composes music and writes his memoirs. Then suddenly, Danny returns to Iowa for a family event, picking up a group of eggnog-sipping old ladies on the way. As Alice in Wonderland would say, 'curiouser and curiouser.' Although Athey, an English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic College, is an imaginative writer, confused readers may be left scratching their heads."
--Publishers Weekly, December 10, 2007
"University professor and first-time novelist David Athey has written an extraordinary readable book featuring an unusually fascinating character. It is set amid the patterns and prescriptions of the Iowa farmland but includes a bizarre road trip to Palm Beach. The character in question carries the nickname of Danny Gospel. He is a 'holy fool' sort of person, traveling from a past in a famous gospel-singing family into a future that is complicated mentally, morally and vocationally. Danny travels first in a pickup and then in a pink Cadillac, but through all he sustains the charm, innocence and human holiness that make him likable and unforgettable. The conclusion is strange and unsatisfying: it will be the fulcrum many book clubs' conversations will turn upon. The story is memorable and so much more agreeable than the forests of fiction hauled into the marketplace with a 'Christian' label. This author is an example for any aspiring writer whose efforts to find his or her voice lead down paths that are not well-traveled."
--Dwight A. Moody, The Dallas Morning News, June 29, 2008
"David Athey, a 1982 graduate of Moose Lake High School, has published his first novel, Danny Gospel. It has taken Athey eighteen years to write the work of fiction. In addition to writing his novel, he has published numerous poems, short stories, essays and teaches English at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He and his wife live in Palm Beach Florida. Athey believes his work will appeal to the Moose Lake community and surrounding area; 'it's all about small-town and rural values' said Athey.
"Danny Gospel is an imaginative story filled with sadness, romance, adventure and hope for a happy life. Flashbacks of joyful and heartbreaking memories tell Danny's life story. At times, these recollections of his past can get somewhat confusing but the author continues to build the suspense to bring the story to a conflicting end. The novel is certainly worth sharing in a book club setting providing thought provoking discussions on life's disappointments, depression and faith."
--Lonnie Hagen, Moose Lake Star-Gazette (MN), August 7, 2008