“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, January 17, 2013

Poe Is We

Yesterday was something of a Red Letter Day at CAP Towers, when the news filtered through that BOOKS TO DIE FOR (Hodder & Stoughton / Emily Bestler / Atria) has been nominated for an Edgar award in the Best Critical / Biographical category. If you haven’t come across said tome before, the blurb elves kick off their description thusly:
BOOKS TO DIE FOR is a unique, must-have anthology for any fan of the mystery genre, featuring personal essays from 120 of the world’s most beloved and renowned crime writers on the mysteries and thrillers that they most admire, edited by two of their own—John Connolly and Declan Burke.
  I’m still a little bit stunned by the nomination, to be perfectly honest. Perhaps I shouldn’t be, given the quality of the contributors and the way they write so lovingly about the great books in the crime / mystery genre. Moreover, both Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, and Emily Bestler / Atria in the US, produced gorgeous books.
  Even so, you never really expect that you’ll be nominated for an Edgar. I don’t, anyway. I’ve been on a pretty good run of it lately, but this really is Cloud Nine material.
  Of course, I’m acutely aware that in co-editing BTDF, I was standing on the shoulders of giants – not just those of the contributors, but those of the authors they were writing about.
  I was also – all modesty apart, false or otherwise – standing in the shadow of another giant, John Connolly. It’s a fact that if John hadn’t committed to BTDF in the way he did, bringing not just his work ethic but his depth and breadth of knowledge about the genre, but also the respect and goodwill of his peers, the book simply would not have happened.
  It’s also true that Clair Lamb, BTDF’s assistant editor, was the glue that kept the whole project together, particularly when a number of my wheels fell off during the pre-production phase.
  I think I’m more pleased for John and Clair this morning than anything else. So if you’ll pardon me, I’m off to bask in their reflected glory …
  Oh, and before I go – hearty congratulations to fellow Irish crime scribes Alan Glynn and Jane Casey, who were both nominated for Edgars too, for BLOODLAND and THE RECKONING respectively. Excellent news, and fully deserved.

3 comments:

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Mr. Burke neglects to mention that he was the one who thought it ought to be a book in the first place, and got the project started... congratulations!

seana graham said...

I saw this today on an Edgars list at work and was thrilled about it. We've been doing a pretty good trade in the book here already, so this can only help. It is a very nice looking book even if you don't know about any of the great stuff inside.

I was also very pleased to see Alan getting some recognition. I'll have to get on to Jane Casey's work soon too.

You don't have to pat yourself on the back. Let the rest of us do that for you.

Declan Burke said...

Many thanks, folks. Very pleased indeed, as you might imagine.