The Van - Roddy Doyle (1991)

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.

Clip from the 1996 film adaptation of "The Van," starring Colm "Chief O'Brien" Meaney.

Link to author Roddy Doyle's website.