“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, August 12, 2009

Banville Vs Edwards: Peace Busts Out All Over, Unfortunately

Sad as it is to relate, folks, it seems that John Banville and Ruth Dudley Edwards (right) have run out of toys to throw out of the pram and are now doing a babes-in-arms gig. Just this morning a white-haired gentleman stepped out of a helicopter on the CAP Towers helipad brandishing the following missive:
“PEACE BREAKS OUT. Following a cordial private correspondence, John Banville and Ruth Dudley Edwards have kissed, made up and decommissioned their hurleys.”
  Boo, etc. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted …
  Meanwhile, the latest big-up for Cuddly Dudley’s latest opus, OMAGH: THE AFTERMATH comes courtesy of Suzanne Breen in the Sunday Tribune, with the gist running thusly:
“If ever you see cruelty, write it in the sky, and then people won’t stand for it,” an old Kerry woman once told Ruth Dudley Edwards’ brother. The author does so magnificently in her account of the Omagh bombing … Its portrayal of cruelty and suffering is relevant far beyond Ireland. It should be compulsory reading for everyone – terrorists and state forces – contemplating planting, or dropping, a bomb in conflict.”
  For more along those lines, clickety-click here

1 comment:

seana graham said...

I hope this one makes its way over to the U.S.