Bullfighting - Softcover

Doyle, Roddy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224091441 ISBN 13: 9780224091442

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2011

Synopsis

The men in "Bullfighting" are each concerned with loss in different ways - of their place in their world, of power, virility, love - of the boom days and the Celtic Tiger. 'The stories, his memories, were wearing out' the narrator of the title story thinks, 'and there was nothing new replacing them'. The stories move from classrooms to graveyards, local pubs to bullrings; featuring an array of men at their working day and at rest, taking stock and reliving past glories. In the first, "Recuperation", a man sets off for a prescribed walk around his neighbourhood, the sights triggering memories and recollections of his wife, his children, his younger days. In "Animals", George remembers caring for his children's many pets, his efforts to spare them grief when they die or disappear, looking, in the eyes of his wife, like a hero, like 'your man from ER'. But now his kids are reared and he's unemployed, and he's slowly getting used to that. 'Suffer. Your man Krugman said, when he asked how Ireland should deal with the next ten years. Well, this is George, suffering'. Brilliantly observed, funny and moving, the stories in "Bullfighting" present a new vision of contemporary Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and of the Irish middle-aged male confronting its new realities. It is a masterful new collection from one of the country's greatest writers.

About this title

Review:

"An effortless read, told in warm and witty Roddy Doyle style." (Reading Matters)

"Realistic and funny... This is a funny book about serious stuff... Doyle's descriptions of fatherhood will leave a powerful impression on any reader" (Christina Appleyard Daily Mail)

"Probably the finest collection of Irish short stories since James Joyce's Dubliners" (Globe and Mail)

"The trademark deadpan style of Doyle's storytelling make this an entirely believable comedy" (Gerard Woodward Guardian)

"Roddy Doyle's Bullfighting offers a series of rare and beautiful mid-life meditations" (Jane Clinton Sunday Express)

Book Description:

Bullfighting is Roddy Doyle's eagerly anticipated second collection of stories; a series of bittersweet tales revealing a panorama of Ireland today

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0224091441
• ISBN 13: 9780224091442
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224