“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

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

More Irish Than The I-reich Themselves, Apparently

So there we were congratulating Peter Temple (right) on winning the CWA Dagger for Best Ever Crime Novel Of The Year, Like, Ever for The Broken Shore and in the process lamenting the fact that the surname of his long-standing hero Jack Irish is actually pronounced ‘I-reich’, when lo! We were proved wrong! By the Wizard of Oz himself! Quoth Peter:
“Declan: I’m happy to report that Jack Irish’s name is pronounced in the ordinary way. Irish is, however, a corruption of an earlier family name. Thank you for your generous words.”
Criminy! Is it possible to be simultaneously stoked, humbled and flabbergasted? And what say you now, Mr After Dark My Sweet (if that is, in fact, your real name) who peddled the erroneous info in the first place? Don’t make us go down under there, pal. You wouldn’t like us when we’re angry. You wouldn’t even like us when we’re not angry. Because we’re not likeable. You have been warned, sirrah …

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