Emerald Germs of Ireland - Hardcover

McCabe, Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0330391615 ISBN 13: 9780330391610

Publisher: Picador, 2001

Synopsis

One of Patrick McCabe's funniest books'There is something special about the relationship we all have with our mothers...' Meet Pat McNab, forty five years old, often to be found propping up the bar of Sullivan's Select Bar (not that Mrs McNab knew that - oh, no - she and Timmy the barman didn't get along at all) or sitting on his mother's knee singing away together like some ridiculous two-headed human juke box. But that was before we begin the story - Emerald Germs of Ireland could, more accurately described as Pat McNab's post-matricide year...Patrick McCabe's new book tells the stories in the life of Pat McNab - a soft lad who is living with his dead mother and fending off the meddlesome ways of his small town neighbours. Mrs Tubridy, the turf man and the like. It has some quite golden moments of comedy as well as the maniacal twists and turns that are the hallmarks of McCabe's genius.

About this title

Review

Emerald Germs of Ireland combines the unstoppable narrative of McCabe's Booker-shortlisted Breakfast on Pluto with the ballad-like episodic format of Mondo Desperado; the result is McCabe's most disciplined and best book to date.

Pat McNabb is a sad sack of a man, 45 and still living at home with his abandoned mother--indeed, still sharing her bed and often to be found seated "on his mother's knee, the pair of them singing away as though they were some ridiculous kind of two-headed human jukebox". But then a thwack from a black saucepan takes away the life of mother McNabb and Pat embarks on an odyssey to cover up his heinous crime, taking a terrible toll on visitors to his house, including a lovestruck childless friend of his mother's and a scheming neighbour with designs on his land. Now his mother's songs haunt his life, at once provoking painful reminiscences and dictating the ingenious nature of the serial killings.

The plot allows McCabe to indulge his trademark grand Gaelic guignol, but even in its most excessive moments there's a sympathy for poor Pat that raises this above its inherent cruelty into something truly affecting. --Alan Stewart

Review

‘Emerald Germs is an extraordinary confection. Melancholy, nasty, and extremely funny’ Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

‘A mesmerising, disturbing and sometimes wildly funny book’ Carolyn Hart, Marie Claire, Book of the Month

Edition details

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0330391615
• ISBN 13: 9780330391610
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384