Most Popular Books by Roddy Doyle

It''s 1924, and New York is the centre of the universe. Henry Smart, on the run from Dublin, lands on his feet. After the 1916 Rebellion, Henry Smart is running from the Republicans for whom he committed murder and mayhem. Lying to the immigration officer, avoiding Irish eyes that might recognise him, hiding the photograph of himself with his wife because it shows a gun across his lap, he throws his passport into the river and forges a new identity. He''s a handsome man with a sandwich board, behind which he stashes hooch for the speakeasies of the Lower East Side. He catches the attention of the mobsters who run the district and soon there are eyes on his back and men in the shadows. It is time to leave, for another America... The Depression is sending folks to ride the rails in search of a new life and new hope, and all trains lead to Chicago. As Henry’s past tries to catch up with him, he takes off on a journey to the great port, where music is everywhere. Chicago is wild and new, and newest of all is the music. Furious, wild, happy music played by a man with a trumpet and bleeding lips called Louis Armstrong. His music is everywhere, coming from every open door, every phonograph. But Armstrong is a prisoner of his colour; there are places a black man cannot go, things he cannot do. Armstrong needs a man, a white man, and the man he chooses is Henry Smart.

"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 the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the heartrending story of a brave and tenacious housewife Paula Spencer is a thirty-nine-year-old working-class woman struggling to reclaim her dignity after marriage to an abusive husband and a worsening drinking problem. Paula recalls her contented childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the exhilaration of her romance with Charlo, and the marriage to him that left her feeling powerless. Capturing both her vulnerability and her strength, Roddy Doyle gives Paula a voice that is real and unforgettable.

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.

An historical novel like none before it, A Star Called Henry has marked a new chapter in Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle''s writing. A subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism, at its centre a passionate and unforgettable love story, this novel is a triumphant work of fiction. Born in the slums of Dublin in 1902, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he''s out robbing, begging, charming, often cold, always hungry, but a prince of the streets. At fourteen, already six foot two, Henry''s in the General Post Office on Easter Monday 1916, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, fighting for freedom. A year later he''s ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian, and, soon, a killer. With his father''s wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a republican legend - one of Michael Collins'' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike, a lover.

Roddy Doyle’s acclaimed Booker Prize-nominated novel, “a darker portrayal of midlife crisis and an expansively farcical chain of misadventures” (The New York Times Book Review) Jimmy Rabitte, Sr., is unemployed, spending his days alone and miserable. When his best friend, Bimbo, also gets laid off, they keep busy by being miserable together. Things seem to look up when they buy a decrepit fish-and-chips van and go into business, selling cheap grub to the drunk and the hungry—and keeping one step ahead of the environmental health officers. Set during the heady days of Ireland’s brief, euphoric triumphs in the 1990 World Cup, The Van is a tender and hilarious tale of male friendship and family life.

Grainne''s birth mother is coming to visit from America - a mum she has never seen before. As Grainne nervously waits for her arrival, her step-mother and two half-brothers decide to take a break. They are off to Finland for an adventure holiday, riding dog-sleds at a remote lodge. But when their mum is lost in the snowy wastes, the stage is set for a novel in two voices: a frantic story of seeking and finding which shrieks with nail-biting tension. A tale of snow and ice, and of courage and survival, this gripping story from world-class author Roddy Doyle will take your breath away.

Two old friends reconnect in Dublin for a dramatic, revealing evening of drinking and storytelling in this winning new novel from the author of the Booker Prize winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha One summer''s evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Drinking pals back in their youth, now married and with grown up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he needs to tell Davy, and Davy has a sorrow he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be. Joe has left his wife and family for another woman, Jessica. Davy knows her too, or should - she was the girl of their dreams four decades earlier, the girl with the cello in George''s pub. As Joe''s story unfolds across Dublin - pint after pint, pub after pub - so too do the memories of what eventually drove Davy from Ireland: his first encounter with Faye, the lively woman who would become his wife; his father''s somber disapproval; the pained spaces left behind when a parent dies. As the two friends try to reconcile their versions of the past over the course of one night, Love offers a delightfully comic yet moving portrait of the many forms love can take throughout our lives.

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 (Ita’s mother died when she was three -- “the only memory I have is of her hands, doing things”; Rory was the oldest of nine children, five of them girls); and recall every detail of their Dublin childhoods -- the people (aunts, cousins, shopkeepers, friends, teachers), the politics (both came from Republican families), Ita’s idyllic times in the Wexford countryside, and 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 (“Kilbarrack wasn’t a rural place any more”) 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 magnificent book is not only a biography of, but also a love letter to Roddy’s parents, Rory and Ita.

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

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the follow up to his acclaimed debut novel The Commitments Watch for Roddy Doyle’s new novel, Smile, coming in October of 2017 Twenty-year-old Sharon Rabbitte is pregnant. She''s also unmarried, living at home, working in a grocery store, and keeping the father''s identity a secret. Her own father, Jimmy Sr., is shocked by the news. Her mother says very little. Her friends and neighbors all want to know whose "snapper" Sharon is carrying. In his sparkling second novel, Roddy Doyle observes the progression of Sharon''s pregnancy and its impact on the Rabbitte family—especially on Jimmy Sr.—with wit, candor, and surprising authenticity.

LONGLISTED 2015 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award A triumphant return to the characters of Booker Prize-winning writer Roddy Doyle''s breakout first novel, The Commitments, now older, wiser, up against cancer and midlife. Jimmy Rabbitte is back. The man who invented the Commitments back in the 1980s is now 47, with a loving wife, 4 kids...and bowel cancer. He isn''t dying, he thinks, but he might be. Jimmy still loves his music, and he still loves to hustle--his new thing is finding old bands and then finding the people who loved them enough to pay money online for their resurrected singles and albums. On his path through Dublin, between chemo and work he meets two of the Commitments--Outspan Foster, whose own illness is probably terminal, and Imelda Quirk, still as gorgeous as ever. He is reunited with his long-lost brother, Les, and learns to play the trumpet.... This warm, funny novel is about friendship and family, about facing death and opting for life. It climaxes in one of the great passages in Roddy Doyle''s fiction: 4 middle-aged men at Ireland''s hottest rock festival watching Jimmy''s son''s band, Moanin'' at Midnight, pretending to be Bulgarian and playing a song called "I''m Goin'' to Hell" that apparently hasn''t been heard since 1932.... Why? You''ll have to read The Guts to find out.

“[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.

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.

For his many devoted readers: the first collection of stories from Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle. Roddy Doyle has written stories for Metro Eireann, a magazine by and for immigrants to Ireland. Each of the stories takes a new slant on the immigrant experience, something of increasing relevance and importance in Ireland today. The Deportees now brings those stories together for all of Roddy’ s devoted readers, ranging from a terrifying ghost story, “The Pram,” in which a Polish nanny grows impatient with her charge’s older sisters and decides–using a phrase she has just learnt–to “scare them shitless,” to the glorious title story itself, where Jimmy Rabbitte, the man who formed the beloved Commitments, decides it’s time to find a new band, and this time no white Irish need apply. Multicultural to a fault, the Deportees specialize not in soul music, but in the songs of Woody Guthrie.

''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.

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.

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, two plays set in the north Dublin suburb of Barrytown Watch for Roddy Doyle’s new novel, Smile, coming in October of 2017 From novelist and screenwriter Roddy Doyle come these two colorful plays. both set in the North Dublin suburb of Barrytown. In Brownbread, three young men kidnap a bishop but soon come to realize--when the U.S. Marines invade--that their brilliant adventure is nothing more than a colossal mistake. War is set at the Hiker''s Rest, a pub where two trivia addicts meet every month to answer questions posed by Denis trhe quizmaster who hates wrong answers and shoots to kill. These earthy, exuberant works show why The New York Times Book Review says Doyle''s "versatility and brio...may shock the neighbors, but...you can''t take your eyes off him."

Reading level: 3 [orange].

Mary O’Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can’t let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary’s street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny’s own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out. Praise for A Greyhound of a Girl STARRED REVIEW “A warm, witty, exquisitely nuanced multigenerational story.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review STARRED REVIEW “This elegantly constructed yet beautifully simple story, set in Ireland and spun with affection by Booker Prize–winner Doyle, will be something different for YA readers. These four lilting voices will linger long after the book is closed.” –Booklist, starred review STARRED REVIEW "Written mostly in dialogue, at which Doyle excels, and populated with a charming foursome of Irish women, this lovely tale is as much about overcoming the fear of death as it is about death itself." –Publishers Weekly, starred review "In this moving and artfully structured ghost tale, four generations of Irish women come together. A big part of the pleasure here is the rhythm of the language and the contrasting voices of the generations. Any opportunity to read it aloud would be a treat." –Horn Book "For children grieving the death of a parent or grandparent, this book provides comfort." –Library Media Connection Award: Capitol Choices 2013 - Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices 2013 list - Young Adult Fiction USBBY Outstanding International Books List 2013

Mr Mack is out of a job and sets his mind to inventions - whilst unbeknownst to him Mrs Mack decides to walk around the world without telling anyone. But, Mr Mack''s inventions get him into trouble when he''s arrested for inadvertently holding up a bank. It''s up to his children and their amazing dog, Rover, to track down Mrs Mack and save the day.

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.

The triumphant conclusion to the trilogy that began with A Star Called Henry Watch for Roddy Doyle’s new novel, Smile, coming in October of 2017 Henry Smart is back. It is 1946, and Henry has crawled into the desert of Utah''s Monument Valley to die. He''s stumbled onto a film set though, and ends up in Hollywood collaborating with John Ford on a script based on his life. Eventually, Henry finds himself back in Ireland, where he becomes a custodian, and meets up with a woman who may or may not be his long-lost wife. After being injured in a political bombing in Dublin, the secret of his rebel past comes out, and Henry is a national hero. Or are his troubles just beginning? Raucous, colorful, and epic, The Dead Republic is the magnificent final act in the life of one of Doyle''s most unforgettable characters.

A cheeky tale of revenge, dogs and poo by a seriously famous writer. Laugh out loud.

Roddy Doyle returns to Paula Spencer (“One of Doyle’s finest creations” – Toronto Star), the beloved heroine of the bestselling The Woman Who Walked into Doors, with spectacular results. Paula Spencer begins on the eve of Paula’s forty-eighth birthday. She hasn’t had a drink for four months and five days. Having outlived an abusive husband and father, Paula and her four children are now struggling to live their adult lives, with two of the kids balancing their own addictions. Knowing how close she always is to the edge, Paula rebuilds her life slowly, taking pride in the things she accomplishes, helped sometimes by the lists she makes to plan for the future. As she goes about her daily routine working as a cleaning woman, and cooking for her two children still at home, she re-establishes connections with her two sisters, her mother and grandchildren, expanding her world. She discovers the latest music, the Internet and text-messaging, treats herself to Italian coffees, and gradually ventures beyond her house, where she’s always felt most comfortable. As Paula thinks of herself, “She’s a new-old woman, learning how to live.” Doyle movingly depicts a woman, both strong and fragile, fighting back and finally equipped to be a mother to her children – but now that they’re mostly grown up, is it too late? Doyle’s fans and new readers alike will root for Paula to stay clean and find a little healing for herself and her children, amidst the threat that it may all go wrong.

The Black Dog of Depression has descended over the adults of Dublin. Uncles are losing their businesses, dads won’t get out of bed, mothers no longer smile at their children. Siblings Raymond and Gloria have had enough and set out one night with one goal in mind: to stop the Black Dog, whatever it takes. In a chase through the streets and parks and beaches of Dublin, the children run after the Black Dog, and soon dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of kids join in their fight. They discover they have one weapon against the Black Dog. The weapon is a word: “brilliant.” Illustrated throughout by a bright new talent and told through the masterful dialogue for which the acclaimed Roddy Doyle is known, Brilliant is a very special book with a storybook feel.

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.

A one-volume edition of the celebrated trio of novels about the Rabbitte family, from the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Look for Roddy Doyle’s new novel, Smile, coming in October of 2017 The Barrytown Trilogy gathers Roddy’s Doyle’s first three novels into one volume: The Commitments, one of the funniest rock’n’roll novels ever written, about a group of aspiring musicians on a mission to bring soul to Dublin; The Snapper, about the progression of twenty-year-old Sharon Rabbitte’s pregnancy on her family; and The Van, a finalist for the Booker Prize, a tender and hilarious tale of male friendship, midlife crisis, and family life, set during the heady days of Ireland’s brief, euphoric triumphs in the 1990 World Cup.

Maggie and Jason''s grandfather is dead. He''s leaving Jason his camera and photographs, and Maggie a box of shells. They are gifts that will take them further then [sic] they could ever imagine, uncover secrets and transform lives .... Ten best selling, award-winning authors unite for a novel of wonders and surprise."--Back cover.

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.

A Barrytown, un quartiere popolare di Dublino, un gruppo di ragazzi decide di fondare un complesso di soul e rythm and blues, ispirandosi ai grandi del genere, da James Brown a Otis Redding. La squadra è composta, tra gli altri, da Jimmy Rabbitte, il manager del gruppo; Joey The Lips, il mitico trombettista che ha suonato con tutti i grandi del rock; Deco, il cantante che geme come Otis; le tre irresistibili coriste che ancheggiano sulle note di Sex Machine. La band si chiamerà I Commitments, per esprimere un impegno radicale, senza mezzi termini. Tra successi e disastri, amicizie e litigi, amori imprevisti e abbandoni clamorosi, il leggendario esordio di Roddy Doyle racconta i giovani raccogliendo e reinventando, con risultati strepitosi, il loro parlato.

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.