Brian Doyle was new to me.  I never heard of this author.  But since I've read Brian Doyle's Eight Whopping Lies, I plan to read more, if not all of his works.  Eight Whopping Lies is a book of short stories.  This book contains the kind of short stories I like--short.  There isn't one story that is over three pages long.  Some books of short stories lie.  Their short stories are novellas.  But Brian Doyle's are a delight, not only because of their brevity, but also because of his enjoyable writing skill.

He writes stories that we can identify with so  we learn to feel friendship with him.  He has a way of saying things that puts the reader there.  I am amazed by his skill.  And it seems so effortless!

I liked her wit and erudition and masterful passive aggression, which was so layered and subtle that I found myself enjoying it immensely as a form of verbal art.

This is how I felt upon reading Eight Whopping Lies. By the way, Eight Whopping Lies is the title of one of the stories.  The lies are:

1.  God is with us. This assumes He approves of us getting drunk, fighting, etc.  We have free will and sometimes we choose to be without God.

2.  It's not you; it's me.  Nope, not true.  Every time you have said that, it was you.

3.  A baby in the womb is not a person.  You must have a mental block if you think that baby is not a human being.  An adult does not look like a child.  A child does not look like an infant.  And a baby in the womb is a human being at that stage of a human being's life.  

4.  It's not about the oil.  Oil is why we go to war.  We're not at war with North Korea where a dictator is starving his people, are we?

5.  We are stewards of America's land and water, and we do our utmost to protect our national legacy.  Mining companies and oil companies are liars.

6.  My campaign is all about family values.  Are you for national health care?  Affordable education and training for all?  

7.  This won't hurt a bit.  Who says this?  Dentists use this phrase.  I rest my case.

8.  It's a peacekeeping mission.  People will be harmed and killed.