Product Description

Roger Boylan's first novel, Killoyle, established him as a brilliant successor to such Irish masters as Joyce, Beckett, and J. P. Donleavy. Now his new farce follows the hapless inhabitants of Killoyle, Ireland, through the frenetic week of the Pint-Pulling Olympiad. After local lush Mick McCreek gets into a car crash with a cross-dressing church sexton, he enlists a lawyer, Tom O'Mallet. As it turns out, the lawyer's real gig is selling missiles to the IRA, and he plans to use his clueless client as a patsy. O'Mallet also hoodwinks Anil, an Indian waiter who has found himself the unlikely target of a manhunt. What Tom doesn't know is that his lucrative weapons are destined for a massive terrorist attack on the Pint-Pulling Olympiad, and that Anil's sexy cousin Rashmi — a sweatshop worker turned intelligence operative — is hot on the bombers' trail. With a wink and a nudge, Boylan's pyrotechnic prose brings to life Ireland at its manic extremes, proving the author a dazzling and distinctive talent in American fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1995815 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 445 pages

About the Author
Roger Boylan's roots are in Ireland and the New York area. After attending the University of Ulster and the University of Edinburgh, he worked as a translator, computer technician, teacher, and book editor. His novel Killoyle was published in 1997. His stories and articles have appeared in various journals, including The Literary Review, The Recorder, and The Austin American-Statesman, and he is a regular contributor to Boston Review's New Fiction Forum. He lives in Texas with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

He Do the Irish in Different Voices
A splendid novel in every way: very funny, very inventive, and very insightful into Ireland's many problems. A variety of Irish "types" take part in a comically convoluted plot, with a biting commentator heckling from the footnotes. Perhaps even better than Boylan's first novel, "Killoyle," to which this is a sequel. Highly recommended.

An outrageous humane comedy.
Hilarious--Boylan has scored another comic triumph. The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad keeps the reader reeling with dazzling displays of erudition, caustic commentary, and a constant barrage of laugh-out-loud episodes. But this is a farce with a heart; even at their most ridiculous, Boylan's characters are deftly drawn and fully human. If you think you'll finish this book without caring about the people within it, then the joke's on you.

Keep this by your bed if you don't want to sleep
More captivating than Boylan's Killoyle. The Olympiad has characters that are rich in their actions, preoccupations and obssessions. Boylan is witty and erudite, and his book is a treasure-trove of deliciously clever details and footnotes. There are some hysterically funny scenes you shouldn't miss. A book unlike any other. Buy it!