“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, September 2, 2008

Me And Bobby McCue

Busted flat in Baton Rouge / Headed for the train / Feeling nearly faded as my jeans …” Bobby McCue (right, in back behind Sarah Chen, Michael Haskins and Linda Brown) of The Mystery Bookstore in LA does our humble offering THE BIG O proud, choosing it as his ‘other favourite’ in this month’s Mystery Bookstore newsletter, with the gist running thusly: “Another Irish writer new to American readers, Declan Burke is drawing comparisons to Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.” Which is nice.
  Mind you, it’d be even nicer if THE BIG O was his actual favourite, rather than his ‘other’ favourite. His actual favourite? Brian McGilloway’s “terrific debut”, BORDERLANDS. Which would be a stone-cold bummer if yon McGilloway wasn’t as nice a bloke as you could meet. But he is, so it’s not. Brian? Tell Tanya we were asking for her.
  Anyhoos, it’s three cheers, two stools and a resounding huzzah for Bobby McCue. All together now: “Feeling good was easy, Lord / When Bobby sang the blues / And feeling good was good enough for me / Good enough for me and Bobby McCue …”

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bobby McCue looks an awful -- ok, wrong word -- a great deal like Bobby Crais. So...is he single?

Declan Burke said...

Yo, Anon - what is this, a dating agency? Cheers, Dec

Gerard Brennan said...

Nice one. May the kudos continue to roll in.

gb

Brian McGilloway said...

Hi Dec

I'm delighted to be in such good company! T's fine, thanks - no news yet. Hope Sunday went well.

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Bobby is single, but in real life he bears a closer resemblance to cyclist Lance Armstrong. Ladies, he likes Guinness and beach volleyball...

Clair

Declan Burke said...

Clair - like, who doesn't like Guinness and beach volleyball? Cheers, Dec

Mark Coggins said...

Declan,

Here's the pic of Bobby you were looking for--the other is of Mr. Crais:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_BMy2iRUsJ08/RjLVQA4_LRI/AAAAAAAAAFA/5Zp9eCMTfSk/s1600-h/Blog4.jpg