He’s being compared to Steinbeck and Dickens, but Dan Barry is just a humble guy who lives in Maplewood and writes for a little paper called The New York Times.
Now, Barry — already an award-winning journalist — is enjoying the kind of reviews that writers dream of with the release of his most recent book “The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland”:
“Dan Barry gives dignity even to the darkest corners of the American experience. He is the closest thing we have to a contemporary Steinbeck.” – Colum McCann, author of the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin
“Expose of a moral catastrophe” and “a vital piece of reporting. A powerful story.” – The New York Times
“Dan Barry has achieved the remarkable. He has written an unforgettable story of degradation, suffering, and eventual triumph rendered in a velvet style that blends poetry with colloquialism.” – The Providence Journal
“The prose itself is at times luminous; hard-hitting journalism shot through with flourishes of the best literary nonfiction…” -Minneapolis Star Tribune
“The Boys in the Bunkhouse” tells the harrowing yet uplifting story of the exploitation and abuse of a resilient group of men with intellectual disability, and the heroic efforts of those who helped them to find justice and reclaim their lives.
Hear some of Barry’s “luminous prose” from the book with a reading, signing and launch on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 pm. at Words Bookstore in Maplewood Village. Oh, and buy a copy! You won’t regret it.
Words Bookstore is located at 179 Maplewood Avenue in Maplewood, New Jersey.
