The Long Voyage Home: A Journey of Discovery

Book excerpt: The Long Voyage Home is an epic journey written in the manner of Irish writers and poets who have sung from the rocks of Dublin, struggled on the decks of seafaring ships and wept at the graves of comrades and in the alleys of tenaments. It seeks the grace of God and the friendship of angles, while always casting a fearing ear about for the "beast" that sometimes rips our dreams. The remarkable new work examines the struggle to balance our perceptions of memories, dreams and reality, good and evil, Heaven and Hell, while moving through a landscape of parents, jobs, lovers and friends. It invites you to come along. The author, Patrick Kelly, served as a Russian linguist in the U.S. Army, stationed in West Germany before the Berlin Wall fell. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he also did graduate work in English literature. He spent 25 years as a newswriter and editor in the American Southeast. He is currently working on Volume II of The Long Voyage Home.