New Releases by Roddy Doyle

“A showdown between mother and daughter that is about as emotionally painful as it gets.” —Fiona Maazel, The New York Times A powerful, moving mother-daughter story filled with struggle and redemption by Booker-Prize winning author Roddy Doyle At sixty-six, Paula Spencer—mother, grandmother, widow, addict, survivor—has finally started to live her life. She has a job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, her boyfriend Joe is a text away when she needs him, and her four children now have the healthy families and petty dramas that Paula could have only hoped for. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside. That is until her eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep one day. Nicola is everything Paula wasn’t—independent, affluent, a loving wife and mother, a “success”—but now she is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. She has left her family and come to stay. As Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, mother and daughter must untangle past memory, trauma, and revelations to confront what they mean to each other—and who they want to be. A timely and powerful novel of regrets, reparations, and reconciliations, The Women Behind the Door is a delicately devastating portrait of shame and the inescapable shadow it casts over families. Many readers will welcome the chance to reconnect with this strong, singular character whom we have seen in The Woman Who Walked into Doors and Paula Spencer, but all readers will be glad to have Paula in their life now.

“[Doyle] imparts a sense of poignancy and glimpses of happiness, of grief and loss and small moments of connection . . . you’re left feeling close to dazzled.” —Daphne Merkin, New York Times Book Review A brilliantly warm and witty portrait of our pandemic lives, told in ten heartrending short stories, from the Booker Prize–winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Love and marriage. Children and family. Death and grief. Life touches everyone the same. But living under lockdown, it changes us alone. In these ten beautifully moving short stories written mostly over the last year, Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle paints a collective portrait of our strange times. A man abroad wanders the stag-and-hen-strewn streets of Newcastle, as news of the virus at home asks him to question his next move. An exhausted nurse struggles to let go, having lost a much-loved patient in isolation. A middle-aged son, barred from his mother’s funeral, wakes to an oncoming hangover of regret. Told with Doyle’s signature warmth, wit, and extraordinary eye for the richness that underpins the quiet of our lives, Life Without Children cuts to the heart of how we are all navigating loss, loneliness, and the shifting of history underneath our feet.

From the author of the Booker Prize winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, a bold, haunting novel about the uncertainty of memory and how we contend with the past. "It''s his bravest novel yet; it''s also, by far, his best." -- npr.org “The closest thing he’s written to a psychological thriller."– The New York Times Book Review Just moved into a new apartment, alone for the first time in years, Victor Forde goes every evening to Donnelly’s for a pint, a slow one. One evening his drink is interrupted. A man in shorts and a pink shirt comes over and sits down. He seems to know Victor’s name and to remember him from secondary school. His name is Fitzpatrick. Victor dislikes him on sight, dislikes, too, the memories that Fitzpatrick stirs up of five years being taught by the Christian Brothers. He prompts other memories—of Rachel, his beautiful wife who became a celebrity, and of Victor’s own small claim to fame, as the man who would say the unsayable on the radio. But it’s the memories of school, and of one particular brother, that Victor cannot control and which eventually threaten to destroy his sanity. Smile has all the features for which Roddy Doyle has become famous: the razor-sharp dialogue, the humor, the superb evocation of adolescence, but this is a novel unlike any he has written before. When you finish the last page you will have been challenged to reevaluate everything you think you remember so clearly.

It''s the summer holidays and Rover is busy searching for poo. He works for The Gigglers, small furry creatures who make sure grown-ups are nice to their kids. If they aren''t, they get the Giggler Treatment - a smelly, squishy present on the end of their shoe, which is where Rover comes in. But Rover and his nephew Messi (who is actually very tidy) are distracted from their job by a Big Fat Baby (B.F.B) who''s fallen out of her Granny''s backpack. It''s time for Rover to find the B.F.B, even if it means chasing a postie all over the city, following an aeroplane to Casablanca and leaving the Gigglers with a poo shortage... The fourth title in the madly funny Giggler series and illustrated throughout by Chris Judge, this is Booker Prize-winning Roddy Doyle at his hilarious, brilliant best.

''ENDLESSLY ABSORBING'' Mail on Sunday ''MASTERPIECE'' The Times ''RUTHLESS'' Daily Telegraph ''INCOMPARABLE'' Sunday Mirror ''SEARINGLY HONEST'' The Sun The No.1 bestselling memoir of Roy Keane, former captain of Manchester United and Ireland In a stunning collaboration with Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle, Roy Keane gives a brutally honest account of his days as a player, the highs and lows of his managerial career and his life as an outspoken ITV pundit. As part of a tiny elite of football players, Roy Keane has had a life like no other. His status as one of football''s greatest stars is undisputed, but what of the challenges beyond the pitch? How did he succeed in coming to terms with life as a former Manchester United and Ireland leader and champion, reinventing himself as a manager and then a broadcaster, and cope with the psychological struggles this entailed? THE SECOND HALF blends anecdote and reflection in Roy Keane''s inimitable voice. The result is an unforgettable personal odyssey which fearlessly challenges the meaning of success.

Jimmy Rabbitte of The Commitments returns in the triumphant new novel from the Booker Prize–winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Full of the great joy in storytelling that characterizes Roddy Doyle’s novels, The Guts catches up with Jimmy Rabbitte—the man who in the 1980s formed the Commitments, a band composed of working-class Irish youths whose mission was to bring soul music to Dublin. Jimmy is now forty-seven, with a loving wife, four kids . . . and colon cancer. The news leaves him shattered and frightened—he isn’t dying, he thinks, but he might be. As he battles his illness while running a small music business, he runs into former bandmates, reunites with his brother, and decides to live more in the moment. The Guts is a warm, funny novel about friendship and family, about facing death and opting for life.

È il 1968. Paddy Clarke ha dieci anni. Adora il calcio – il suo idolo è George Best –, Geronimo e accendere fuochi. Odia gli zoo, i baci, la bacchetta del signor Hennessey (il suo insegnante, detto Henno), e soprattutto il suo fratellino. Sogna di diventare un missionario come padre Damien e nel frattempo costringe i McCarthy a fare la parte dei lebbrosi. Sa che non bisogna mai tirarsi via le croste dalle ginocchia prima che sia ora di farlo. Paddy ha un migliore amico, Kevin. I loro nomi si trovano ovunque, a Barrytown, incisi nel cemento fresco. Insieme costruiscono capanne, suonano i campanelli e poi scappano... Paddy vorrebbe tanto sapere perché nessuno lo ha aiutato quando Charles Leavy gli si è scagliato contro e perché, per essere amici di qualcuno, bisogna sempre odiare qualcun altro. Se solo mamma e papà la smettessero di litigare... Sincero, allegro, tremendamente triste e spesso tutte queste cose insieme, Paddy Clarke ah ah ah! descrive il mondo con gli occhi e il linguaggio inventivo e illuminante di un bambino.

Two men meet for a pint in a Dublin pub. They chew the fat, set the world to rights and take the piss. They talk of their wives, children, pets, football teams and about the Euro. In their fashion they mourn the deaths of Whitney Houston and Robin Gibb.

While Tom and Johnny are on a husky safari in Finland, their half-sister Grainne stays behind to face the mother who abandoned her. But Tom and Johnny are too caught up in their adventure to think of home - until they find themselves lost in the snow, in a desperate struggle for survival...

From the internationally acclaimed, bestselling novelist—his first ever non-fiction book: a poignant, illuminating journey through a century of modern Ireland as told through the eyes of his parents. Ita Doyle: “In all my life I have lived in two houses, had two jobs, and one husband. I’m a very interesting person.” Rory and Ita tells—largely in their own words—the story of Roddy Doyle’s parents’ lives from their first memories to the present. Born in 1923 and 1925 respectively, they met at a New Year’s Eve dance in 1947 and married in 1951. Marvellous talkers, with excellent memories, they draw upon their own family experiences and recall every detail of their Dublin childhoods—the people, the politics, Ita’s idyllic times in the Wexford countryside, Rory’s apprenticeship as a printer. When Roddy’s parents put down a deposit of two hundred pounds for a house in rural Kilbarrack, on the edge of Dublin, Rory was working as a compositor at the Irish Independent. By the time the first of their four children was born, he had become a teacher at the School of Printing in Dublin. Then, their home began to change, along with the rest of the country, as the intensely Catholic society of their youth was transformed into the vibrant, complex Ireland of today. Rory and Ita’s captivating accounts of the last century, combined with Roddy Doyle’s legendary skill in illuminating ordinary experience, make a story of tremendous warmth and humanity.

This well-received novel from a cast of acclaimed authors is now available in paperback! A video message from a dead person. A larcenous teenager. A man who can stick his left toe behind his head and in his ear. An epileptic girl seeking answers in a fairy tale. A boy who loses everything in World War II, and his brother who loses even more. And a family with a secret so big that it changes everything. The world''s best beloved authors each contribute a chapter in the life of the mysterious George "Gee" Keane, photographer, soldier, adventurer, and enigma. Under different pens, a startling portrait emerges of a man, his family, and his gloriously complicated tangle of a life.

Stories that take a new slant on the immigrant experience, from the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle has earned a devoted following amongst those who appreciate his sly humor, acute ear for dialogue, and deeply human portraits of contemporary Ireland. The Deportees is Doyle''s first-ever collection of short stories, and each tale describes the cultural collision-often funny and always poignant-between a native and someone new to the fast-changing country. From a nine-year- old African boy''s first day at school to a man who''s devised a test for "Irishness"to the return of The Commitments''s Jimmy Rabbitte and the debut of his new multicultural band, Doyle offers his signature take on the immigrant experience in a volume reminiscent of his beloved early novels.

“An extraordinary story about an ordinary life.” —People “Brilliant.” —The New Yorker Meet the eponymous and iconic Irishwoman Paula Spencer in this intimate exploration of recovery and motherhood, by Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of The Women Behind the Door It’s been four months and five days since Paula Spencer last had a drink—she’s counted. It’s been ten years since her husband Charlo died—she’s counted that too. She’s tried to quit before, but this time it will stick—she’s sure of it. As Paula relearns how to be herself again, she must also relearn how to be a mother—to Nicola, already an adult, who still checks Paula’s pantry for bottles every time she visits; to John Paul, who has built an entire life without Paula in it; to Leanne, who seems to be headed down the same path of self-destruction Paula just left; and to Jack, the baby, the only one she’s managed to do right by, so far. Things in Ireland are changing, and Paula is doing everything she can to change too. Told with the unmistakable wit of Doyle’s unique voice, Paula’s dogged struggle for sobriety is a redemptive tale of a brave and tenacious woman, “as real as realism gets” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). If you met Paula in The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, you’ll be eager to see where she is ten years on; if you haven’t yet, you’ll feel lucky to connect with her in this book and its successor, The Women Behind the Door.

Dave, Pat and Ben are friends since childhood and they all love Liverpool fottball club. On a trip to see their heroes in action Dave & Pat chat up two local girls, but Ben goes missing.

The sequel to Roddy Doyle’s beloved novel A Star Called Henry – an entertaining romp across America in the 1920s Fleeing the Irish Republican paymasters for whom he committed murder and mayhem, Henry Smart has left his wife and infant daughter in Dublin and is off to start a new life. When he lands in America, it is 1924 and New York City is the center of the universe. Henry turns to hawking cheap hooch on the Lower East Side, only to catch the attention of the mobsters who run the district. In Chicago, Henry finds a newer America alive with wild, happy music played by a man with a trumpet and bleeding lips called Louis Armstrong. But in a city also owned by the mob, Armstrong is a prisoner of his color. He needs a man--a white man--and the man he chooses is Henry Smart.

Roddy Doyle’s acclaimed novel about an intrepid Irishman’s years of reckless heroism and adventure – “An extraordinarily entertaining epic.” (The Washington Post) Born at the beginning of the twentieth century, Henry Smart lives through the evolution of modern Ireland, and in this extraordinary novel he brilliantly tells his story. From his own birth and childhood on the streets of Dublin to his role as soldier (and lover) in the Irish Rebellion, Henry recounts his early years of reckless heroism and adventure. At once an epic, a love story, and a portrait of Irish history, A Star Called Henry is a grand picaresque novel brimming with both poignant moments and comic ones, and told in a voice that is both quintessentially Irish and inimitably Roddy Doyle''s.

Combining Rory and Ita’s marvelous storytelling ability with Roddy Doyle’s legendary skill in illuminating ordinary experience, Rory & Ita is a book of tremendous warmth and humanity. Roddy Doyle’s first non-fiction book tells—largely in their own words—the story of his parents’ lives. They remember every detail of their Dublin childhoods—the people, the politics, idyllic times in the Wexford countryside for Ita, Rory’s apprenticeship as a printer. By the time they put down a deposit of two hundred pounds for a house in Kilbarrack, Rory was working as a compositor at the Irish Independent. By the time the first of their four children was born, he’d become a teacher at the School of Printing in Dublin. Kilbarrack began to change, and Ireland too. Through their eyes we see the intensely Catholic society of their youth being transformed into the vibrant, modern Ireland of today. “A moving and delightful book.”—Independent “As with all stories, the beauty and wonderment of [Rory and Ita’s story] comes from its being told so well.”—The Vancouver Sun “Alive with acuity and spare, punchy prose. . . . Always readable, engaging and revealing. . . . A brave and tender piece of work.”—Irish Times

When Rudolph comes down with the flu, it''s up to Rover the dog and the Mack children to help Santa complete his Christmas deliveries.

A serial novel by 15 of the brightest talents in Irish writing (including Marian Keyes, Pauline McLynn, Gina Moxley and Frank McCourt), telling an elaborate tale of murder, mayhem and literary shenanigans in present-day Dublin. Approximately #1 from every copy sold will go to Amnesty International.

Danny Murphy and his brother Jimmy will meet each other for the first time in over twenty years.

“This unflinching novel chronicles a woman’s relationship with a violent man in a way that brings fresh insight to the subject . . . engaging and uplifting.” —O, The Oprah Magazine From Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of The Women Behind the Door, the heartrending origin story of Paula Spencer, a brave and tenacious housewife Paula Spencer is a thirty-nine-year-old mother of four, a blue-collar worker, an alcoholic in recovery—or maybe not. Then one day a police officer knocks on her door. From the look on his face, she can tell it’s not good news. His revelation takes Paula back to the past, to her contented childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the exhilaration of her romance with her husband Charlo, and the violent marriage to him that left her powerless. Now, as she struggles to reclaim her dignity from the abuse that left her with scars and a worsening drinking problem, this new revelation threatens to shatter the fragile peace she’s built for herself and drag her back down the dark paths she thought she’d left behind. Capturing both her vulnerability and strength, Roddy Doyle gives Paula a voice that is singular and real, the story of an ordinary woman whose extraordinary character will stay with you long after this novel and into the subsequent books in his trilogy, Paula Spencer and The Women Behind the Door.

Roddy Doyle s''est d''abord fait connaître en France par la publication d''un roman, Paddy Clarke ha ha ha (10/18, n° 2784), récit d''une enfance dublinoise qui lui valut le Booker Prize. Voici maintenant sa fameuse trilogie de Barrytown - The Commitments, The Snapper et The Van -, saga joyeusement animée par les membres de la famille Rabitte que le succès des films d''Alan Parker et de Stephen Frears a déjà rendue célèbre. Pour Robert Louit (Magazine littéraire), " on prendra grand plaisir à découvrir les romans de Doyle, car leur qualité principale tient à ce trait permanent de la littérature irlandaise : un don inépuisable de la conversation qui saisit la première occasion pour surenchérir jusqu''à prendre des proportions épiques. La trilogie de Barrytown, c''est comme une soirée bien arrosée au pub : on s''y croirait, et on en commanderait bien une autre ".

Winner of the Booker Prize – Roddy Doyle’s witty, exuberant novel about a young boy trying to make sense of his changing world It is 1968. Patrick Clarke is ten. He loves Geronimo, the Three Stooges, and the smell of his hot water bottle. He can''t stand his little brother Sinbad. His best friend is Kevin, and their names are all over Barrytown, written with sticks in wet cement. They play football, lepers, and jumping to the bottom of the sea. But why didn''t anyone help him when Charles Leavy had been going to kill him? Why do his ma and da argue so much, but act like everything is fine? Paddy sees everything, but he understands less and less. Hilarious and poignant, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha charts the triumphs, indignities, and bewilderment of a young boy and his world, a place full of warmth, cruelty, confusion and love.

Paddy Clarke grandit à Dublin. A la fin des années 60, il a dix ans et son petit monde, entre l''école et le terrain de jeux, son amitié avec Kevin, le football, et son attachement pour son petit frère, est rempli de rêves et de mystères. Paddy est à l''âge où l''on cherche son identité. Son plus grand désir, toutefois, serait de voir ses parents cesser de se disputer, mais son père finit par partir et Paddy doit affronter les moqueries dans la cour de récréation : "Paddy Clarke n''a plus de papa, ha, ha, ha !" Paddy, heureusement, possède des trésors d''énergie et d''intelligence pour détourner l''angoisse : au milieu de la mésentente qui brise son foyer va surgir en lui la ferme détermination de survivre. Avec son mélange "irlandais" de tendresse et d''humour, Roddy Doyle a su rendre l''enfance dans toute sa réalité : le temps des décisions brutales, des grands chagrins inconsolables et des infinies possibilités...

Jimmy Rabbitte Senior pulls himself out of a mid-life crisis when he purchases a greasy fish-and-chip van and sells grub to Dublin''s drunk and hungry during the heady days of Ireland''s triumphs in the World Cup

In the first volume of the Barrytown Trilogy, Roddy Doyle, winner of the Booker Prize for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, introduces The Commitments, a group of fame-starved, working-class Irish youths with a paradoxical passion for the music of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding and a mission—to bring Soul to Dublin. Doyle writes about the band with a fan''s enthusiasm and about Dublin with a native''s cheerful knowingness. His book captures all the shadings of the rock experience: ambition, greed, and egotism—ans the redeeming, exhilarating joy of making music. The Commitments is one of the most engaging and believable novels about rock''n''roll ever written, a book whose brashness and originality have won it mainstream acclaim and underground cachet.