IT’S ABOUT two unemployed men from a Dublin suburb who buy an old burger van to make some money.
POSITIVES: The book is hilarious. Even though 90% of it is about nothing really happening, the mundanity of the main character’s life, activities and thoughts are just so amusing and real that I cheer the day I found this copy in a hotel foyer. Irish wit leaps off every page, and every foul-mouthed observation brings at least a smile. The characters spend most of their time down the pub, hanging out with their families or slaving over a hot stove - hardly any leap of imagination is required to enjoy this brilliantly honest tale of male bonding, jealousy, marital love and chip fat.
NEGATIVES: This book is the third of a trilogy and I haven’t read the other two - I’m worried I might be missing out on something! Secondly, Roddy Doyle doesn’t use speech marks, in this book at least, which takes some getting used to. Not being Irish, I also wonder if I’m not fully appreciating some of the slang used by the characters.
Link to author Roddy Doyle's website.