“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, July 27, 2011

Cool, Baby, Cool

Well, it’s here. Finally arrived. Yesterday was something of a Red Letter Day for yours truly, folks, as ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL arrived back from the printers, and I’m still a bit giddy. In fact, so giddy was I that I nearly ruined the day entirely by smooching the lovely Alice Dawson of Liberties Press in the lobby of the Guinness Enterprise Centre, and this before she’d even had the chance to show me the book. No wonder editor Dan Bolger hot-footed it out of the building at the first opportunity …
  Anyway, the book is now a book. No big deal in one sense, because there’s far too many books published every day, but ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is a bit special for me. For one, I wrote the first draft of it about nine years ago, and it’s been a long, winding and tortuous road ever since. If there was ever a lesson in not giving up, a lesson for myself or for any other writer out there with a bad case of concussion from banging their heads against brick walls, AZC is it. And if that wasn’t enough, Liberties Press have done me more than proud with a very fine book indeed. I thank you all kindly, folks.
  In fact, there’s a whole host of people I need to thank, most of whom are covered in the acknowledgements in the book. For our purpose here today, however, I hope it will suffice for me to quote from those acknowledgements. To wit:
“I would also like to thank the writers and readers who, through the pages of the blog Crime Always Pays, have been so blindly optimistic on my behalf over the last number of years. You are too many to name, but be assured that I am very grateful indeed.”
  And yes, that ‘you’ means YOU. Ladies and gentlemen, take a bow …
  Finally, the good news in practical terms means that the book is now officially available on sale. Those of you interested can order it direct from the Liberties Press website; failing that, ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL will be in all good bookshops from tomorrow onwards.
  The book will be officially launched on August 10th, by the way, in the Gutter Bookshop in Dublin’s Temple Bar. If you think you might like to get along, just scroll down for all the details; and if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, feel free to clickety-click here

10 comments:

Rob Kitchin said...

Excellent. Many congrats. Roll on August 10th when I can get a copy in my hands.

Sean Patrick Reardon said...

Biggest congrats! So happy for you. The CAP blog has been especially entertaining / informational lately. Thanks for that.

John McFetridge said...

Congrats, Declan, great news.

Stuart Neville said...

Congratulations, Dec!

lil Gluckstern said...

So great for you. I'm waiting for the Book Depository to let me know they have it. And your blog continues to delight.

Alan Griffiths said...

Cool and many congrats to you, Dec. Really well deserved too.

Best, Alan

Ryan said...

Congratulations, sir. Look forward to tracking down a copy up here in Canada.

Cheers,
Ryan

seana graham said...

I am so glad mine is pre-ordered.

And I have a feeling Alice wouldn't have taken it amiss.

Declan Burke said...

I thank you all kindly, folks. And if anyone has any trouble tracking down a copy, just get in touch with me directly, we'll get it sorted out from there ...

Cheers, Dec

Richard L. Pangburn said...

Well, I'm hoping that I'll be lucky enough to latch on to a promotion copy--somehow, sooner or later. Perhaps in another contest over at Adrian McKinty's blog.

And I get a lot of books free from the Vine reviewers program at Amazon. A lot of those, turning out to be not my cup of java, I give away to others that I think might enjoy them. I only review the ones that I particularly enjoy.

Speaking of Amazon (US), they have your book listed as THE BABY KILLERS still. Even though the book cannot be ordered there yet, you should get the listing changed asap. Inquiring minds will want to know.

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Killers-Declan-Burke/dp/1907593314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311853844&sr=1-1