“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

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Better The Neville You Know

A prolific chap, Neville Thompson (right), and one not afraid to take chances. MORE STREETWISE: STORIES FROM IRISH PRISONS is the sequel to STREETWISE, the collection of stories written by inmates in Irish prisons and edited by Thompson, who runs writing classes in his role as part-time prison teacher. Quoth the Killynon House blurb elves:
MORE STREETWISE is an eye-opening collection of stories by inmates from Portlaoise and Midlands Prisons. These insightful stories are inspired by the writers’ own experiences of being involved in crime, while other stories reflect on life in prison and seeking the path to redemption. Their stories give a unique insight into the minds of some criminals who are now serving sentences in Ireland. The prisoners involved in the writing of this book are donating their royalties to Autism Ireland.
Meanwhile, Thompson also has his latest novel to promote. A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE is a bittersweet, twisted love story, a two-hander told by an Irish man and a Thai prostitute. Back to those overworked Killynon House blurb elves:
Frank is a fat kid growing up on the streets of Dublin. Bullied at school, mollycoddled at home and ignored at work, he decides to leave it all and have a chance at life. Min was born into a happy if poor loving family. Then, tragically, both her parents died and she is forced into working the streets of Thailand to make ends meet. One fateful night, Min and Frank meet on a beach … and it’s love at first sight. But will others be happy to let them find true happiness?
Erm, you’d expect not or it’d be a pretty short book. For more info, toddle on over to Neville’s interweb blog yokeybus

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