“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
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The Embiggened O # 1,709: Parp-Parp, Parpiddy-Parp!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Funky Friday's Free-For-All: Gin-Joints, Hills Of Beans and Rounding Up The Usual Suspects
It's the burning question that keeps Crime Always Pays up at night, a-tossing and a-turning, although mostly a-tossing, sadly. Anyway, it walks like a noir-ish duck and it quacks like a noir-ish duck, but is Casablanca a true noir? What's that? You don't actually give a rat's ass? Shame on you, when this guy has gone to all the trouble of asking (da-dum!) Casablanca - Noir Or Not? Here's looking at you, kid ... Y'all come back on Monday, y'hear?
"Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down At The Station, Punk?" # 1,209: Jason Starr
What crime novel would you like to have written?
My next one.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Lots of graphic novels, comics, etc. Can't get enough.
Most satisfying writing moment?
In my new thriller, The Follower, the scenes with Peter. I think he's my best anti-hero.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
There are so many greats, but I'd have to go with one of the best of the last several years, Ken Bruen, The Guards.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Bruen's Her Last Call to Louis MacNiece, any of John Connolly's, and Alex Barclay's Dark House. I know I'm missing a lot.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst is the unpredictability of it all. There is no set career path for a writer, it's all improv. The best is the flip side of the worst. Since there's no set career path, you don't have to have a boss, you can make your own hours, take vacations whenever you want. You also feel a lot of satisfaction when a book is published so the best outweighs the worst by tons.
Why does John Banville use a pseudonym for writing crime?
I think he does it to differentiate his crime writing from his literary fiction, and that's probably a smart thing. I don't think there's any real difference between literary and crime; there's just good and bad. There are many works of classic literature with crimes in them, such as works by Shakespeare, etc, but do we call these crime plays? It's smart of Banville though because I think booksellers and marketing people need to make this differentiation, and the pseudonym helps.
The three best words to describe your own writing are ...?
Nobel Prize Winner.
Jason Starr's The Follower is due in the summmer; jump on this for regular news updates.
The Embiggened O # 236: Yes, We Can Now Blow Des Irae On Our Own Trumpet!
Public Service Announcement: Don't Mind The Gaps
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Drum-Roll Of Excellence Please, Maestro: Introducing ... Brian McGilloway!
A Psycho Is A Person In Your Neighbourhood: American Skin, Ken Bruen
This Week We're Reading ... No Country For Old Men and The Moon In The Gutter
Christine Falls 'N' Rises 'N' Falls 'N' Rises ...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Another Angel Gets Her Wings: Susan Aldous Takes Off
Colin Bateman: The One-Man Industry Returneth
Lost Classics # 2,091: Death Call, TS O'Rourke
John Connolly: Pimp My Book Of Lost Things
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
"And This Year's Award For Gratuitous Use Of The Word 'Fuck' Goes To ... Jennifer Fucking Jordan!"
The Weekly Seamus Smyth Update: Some Streets Are Meaner Than Others
'No Such Thing As Bad Publicity' Dept. # 3,019: The Torso In The Canal, John Mooney
"The Torso in the Canal explores the circumstances surrounding the notorious killing and the effect it had on those involved. Based on exclusive interviews with relatives, friends and investigators, this comprehensive book reveals new information about the investigation and the backgrounds of both the killers, and their victim."
Jump here for an interview with John Mooney and here for an extract from the book ... Gerry Ryan liked it, but don't let that put you off.
Declan Hughes @ Rocky Sullivan's: How More Oirish Do You Need It To Be, Exactly?
Beanz Meanz Classicz: 'Tis Beantown, Begorrah!
Whaddya mean, ya haven't seen Beantown yet? Bloody philistines ... "A blood-soaked chronicle of the final desperate gang war between Boston's Irish and Italian mobs," no less, with the Winter Hill mob, headed up by Sheep-Shaggin' Sean MacDoogle, going to war with the dastardly Eyeties, fronted by Sergio 'The Director' Leone. Actually, no, they're utterly serious ... check this for an interview with director Timothy Norman, and this for ZeroHour's proposed comic book prequel. Multi-media, people - it's the only way forward.
Monday, April 23, 2007
"Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down At The Station, Punk?" # 43: Ken Bruen
What crime novel would you like to have written?
The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V. Higgins.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Jason Starr.
Most satisfying writing moment?
Putting the end to my new stand-alone title, Once Were Cops.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
The End of the Line, KT McCaffrey.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
The Wrong King of Blood, Declan Hughes.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst, the continual self-doubt; best, meeting the readers.
Why does John Banville use a pseudonym for writing crime?
’Cos he’s a condescending wanker, like the rest of the Irish lit Mafia.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Brief, terse and challenging.
Ken Bruen's Cross is now available at all good book shops, but jump on this for regular news updates ...
Ordinary Decent Criminology: Martin Cahill's Daughter Has Her Say
The Write Stuff: Critical Mick Wants To See Bleeding Fingers, People
The Monday Review: Garbhan Downey, Take A Bow
Irish Crime Classics # 247: Nun More Deadly, Part 1
"Hard boiled crime novelist Raymond Chandler spent his childhood summers in Waterford City.
"It was the setting for a novel he planned to write shortly before his death in 1959.
"It was never written ..."
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Irish Crime Classics # 247: Nun More Deadly, Part 2
"Can’t a man take a vacation without having to wade through the darker recesses of the human condition? I just wanted to sleep ..." A cracking 13-minute Chandler homage courtesy of the WYD-Eye Film Unit from 2005 (tongue in cheek optional), written by Rodney Lee and directed by David O'Sullivan, Nun More Deadly hustled itself a veritable bushel of awards, including Best Irish Short at the Cork International Film Festival, Best Fiction at the Sligo Short Film Festival and the Tiernan MacBride Award for Best Irish Short at the Galway Film Fleadh. Someone give those guys a proper budget, fer Chrissakes ...