Declan Burke: On Putting The Holy Into Wholly Deserved

“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, April 7, 2011

On Putting The Holy Into Wholly Deserved

Hearty congrats to William Ryan, author of THE HOLY THIEF, which has just been shortlisted for Listowel Writers’ Week Irish Fiction Award, a nomination that is holy, oops, wholly deserved. The news comes courtesy of Eileen Battersby in the Irish Times, who had this to say:

The Irish thriller genre has been consolidated by a large group of writers producing international fiction, much of it based in Dublin. The inclusion of William Ryan’s first novel is an important acknowledgment of the strength of the Irish thriller, although his book looks to the history of the Stalinist era. - Eileen Battersby

For the rest of the (non-crime) nominees, clickety-click here …

4 comments:

Eamonn Sweeney said...: International fiction, much of it based in Dublin???; April 7, 2011 at 10:07 PM
seana graham said...: I'm sure Eileen Battersby is usually a good reviewer, but that is a very confusing paragraph.; April 7, 2011 at 10:27 PM
Eamonn Sweeney said...: It's good to see William Ryan getting this nod but, looking through the programmes for Listowel, Cuirt in Galway which is on this week and the West Cork festival later in the Summer, crime writing is notable by its absence.
There's John Connolly in Listowel, there's Eoin McNamee doing a workshop in Bantry. And that's it. As I reckon Down These Green Streets will make clear, there is an enormous amount of good work being done in and around the genre, yet there doesn't seem to be much recognition of this by official literary circles.
I was actually at a crime fiction event in Cuirt a couple of years ago, Gene Kerrigan and Colin Bateman were reading, there was a good crowd, an excellent atmosphere but the idea seems to have bitten the dust since then. Just seems like a bit of a pity. And I might be wrong but the likes of McKinty, McGilloway, Bruen, French and the mercurial Sligoman himself Burke don't seem to be getting their props on home turf.; April 11, 2011 at 11:13 AM
Fred Zackel said...: I read this novel, and I liked it and will read the next one. I enjoyed the main character a lot and loved the setting (the atmosphere, et.all.) The plot was a little creaky, but debut novels always have a lot on their mind. I already recommended it with pleasure to other readers in my family. A good book. Worth buying. Worth saving.; April 11, 2011 at 4:00 PM