“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
7 comments:
"...James Patterson’s unnervingly productive thriller-industrial complex..."
Patterson is getting close to my idea of a series of novels like a TV series. If there can be a demand for 13 or 22 episodes of a collectively written TV show a year, why not 10 or 12 novel "episodes?"
And who's going to start paying us?
As a bookseller, having watched the local economic downturn a few years ago with the Silicon Valley bubble collapse, and having heard the same economic utterances about the cheapness of books, I am quite skeptical of this proclamation. Once upon a time, maybe, people turned to books for solace, not now.
The most optimistic recent news for books is that our super-cool President-elect is a reader. I am amazed how many people wanted to read that fat tome Team of Rivals just because Obama was reading it prior to selecting his cabinet.
People don't read books because times are bad. There's TV, movies, the internet for that. But they do read books because someone they trust/admire/seek to emulate has recommended them.
Actually, I think that's a good and endearing thing about human beings. It just behooves all of us to recommend a hell of a lot more.
Very wise words Seansag -
You hit the augment on the head like a hammer on a nail.
With all this economic cack flying around, many people just are too anxious to escape reality in case they lose their job while away...
Ali
What a curiously weightless article, saying nothing, taking no stand, an excuse to fill space as introduction to the author's list of favorite books. Read her first paragraph, then her second. Then tell me what argument she's trying to make and what relevance those paragraphs have to her list.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Kind of sceptical myself, I have to say ... no facts or stats from the last recession / downturn / market correction to back up the statement. I wonder what book sales were like during the Great Depression, and what kind of books were selling well. Anyone any ideas?
Cheers, Dec
I don't know anything about... well, that's a straight line, isn't it?... books sales during the depression, but the business model changed. That's when the book business became essentially consignment with returns of unsold books.
I expect that this depression will also cause some changes to the businss end of things - and that's good because the business is still operating in that 1930's model.
John, I feel a fierce surge of that typically boastful Canadian chauvinism that you and Sandra Ruttan are two of the bolder thinkers about books and publishing.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
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