“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Monday, January 18, 2016

First Look: BISHOP’S DELIGHT by Patrick McGinley

Patrick McGinley publishes BISHOP’S DELIGHT (New Island) next month, with the blurb elves wibbling thusly:
“All a politician needs to know about hacks is that the best story wins. They’re only entertainers who’ve wrapped themselves in the flag of truth…”
  Taoiseach Jim Maguire has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Two rival journalists, Kevin Woody and Tony Sweetman, struggle to find the best story to tell about Maguire’s vanishing act.
  As Woody and Sweetman navigate their turbulent personal lives while trying to keep the story of Maguire’s disappearance alive for another day, it begins to emerge that there may have been more to the missing Taoiseach than his political career. What is the truth about Maguire, and what is the mysterious Bishop’s Delight?
  BISHOP’S DELIGHT shows novelist Patrick McGinley at his mesmerising best, showcasing his formidable literary style, his ever-present dark humour and his uncanny ability to explore uncomfortable truths.
  BISHOP’S DELIGHT will be published on February 8th. For all the details, clickety-click here
  For a review of Patrick McGinley’s COLD SPRING (2013), clickety-click here

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