“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

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Embiggened O # 2,049: Our Spinal Tap Moment

Sandra Ruttan at Spinetingler Magazine was kind enough to review our humble offering THE BIG O, and once we winkled out all the quibbles, ho-hums and snorts of disbelief that to our mind rather ruined the overall effect, we were left with the following, to wit:
“Burke shows remarkable skill at weaving a complex story from multiple points of view and pulling the strands together in an engaging fashion, and he clearly has the genius required to pull off a large-scale story … The emphasis is not on technical accuracy in terms of police procedure or organized crime. Capers are wild stories with a humorous edge, and THE BIG O delivers in spades, so plan for a healthy chunk of time, kick back with a few margaritas and indulge in Burke’s dark comedy – this is an author with a lot of promise, well worth taking note of, and I’m looking forward to his next book.”
Incidentally, eagle-eyed readers will have noted that Declan Burke is lined up to contribute to Sandra Ruttan’s new website At Central Booking, which yet again raises the spectre of bias, log-rolling and generalised back-scratchery. For more on this topic, jump here and here.

3 comments:

Peter Rozovsky said...

I don't know; I don't think margaritas are necessary. In fact, I would not hesitate to recommend the book to wine or beer drinkers or even teetotalers.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Whatever works, my friend -- who's complaining? Not me!

Declan Burke said...

Margaritas are always necessary, Peter ... and as long as Maxine is happy, God is in His heaven.