Hayes, Daniel 1955–

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Hayes, Daniel 1955–

PERSONAL: Born 1955; married; children: one daughter. Education: University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Marly Rusoff and Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 524, Bronxville, NY 10708.

CAREER: Taught at University of California, Los Angeles for eight years.

WRITINGS:

Kissing You: Stories, Graywolf Press (Saint Paul, MN), 2003.

Tearjerker (novel), Graywolf Press (Saint Paul, MN), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Daniel Hayes's Kissing You: Stories is a collection of ten tales with sexual themes. Although a kiss can be found in each, many of the stories contain scenes involving masturbation, as in "This World of Ours," wherein a man agrees to masturbate in front of two gay male witnesses in exchange for a piece of furniture. Stalking as an alternative to dating is the theme in "Twenty-six Hours, Twenty-five Minutes." Obsession with a dead girl is central to "Motormouth," and in "Sweet Nothings," a casual compliment becomes a substitute for affection. In "Anything but a Gentleman," a man is fixated on a picture of a woman in a magazine. The kiss of the title story is between two gay men who meet in a Safeway and use text messaging as a form of communication. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the collection "a wide sampling from a promising talent."

The protagonist of Hayes's novel Tearjerker is Evan Ulmer, a desperate writer tired of rejection. An armed Evan kidnaps editor Robert Partnow from his Manhattan office and locks him up in his soundproofed basement surrounded by a chain link fence and located in the Hudson Valley. He provides Partnow with some comforts and the necessities, including a treadmill, television, and portable toilet. Whether Evan has acted in revenge or out of anger is unclear, but the two men begin to talk and establish a sort of friendship. Meanwhile, Evan meets Promise Buckley, a young and ambitious female writer who eventually leads him to face up to the crime he has committed.

Booklist contributor Misha Stone felt that Hayes's "tight, clever turns of phrase and a surprisingly light touch give this first novel a fresh feel." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that the novelist "offers a deft, pointed look at the writing life and the fine line between ambition and delusion."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2003, Joanne Wilkinson, review of Kissing You: Stories, p. 1376; September 15, 2004, Misha Stone, review of Tearjerker, p. 207.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2003, review of Kissing You, p. 417; August 15, 2004, review of Tearjerker, p. 764.

Library Journal, October 1, 2004, Jim Coan, review of Tearjerker, p. 69.

Publishers Weekly, October 11, 2004, review of Tearjerker, p. 58.