The Deportees: And Other Stories

Doyle, Roddy

ISBN 10: 0792753291 ISBN 13: 9780792753292

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2008

Synopsis

The eight tales in Roddy Doyle's first-ever collection of stories have one thing in common: someone born in Ireland meets someone who has come to live there. New Boy describes the first day of school for a nine-year-old boy from Africa; while in The Pram, a terrifying ghost story, a Polish nanny grows impatient with her charge's older sisters and decides-in a new phrase she has learned-to "scare them shitless." In 57% Irish, a man decides to devise a test of Irishness by measuring reactions to three things: Riverdance, the song "Danny Boy," and Robbie Keane's goal against Germany in the 2002 World Cup. And in the wonderful title story, Jimmy Rabbitte, the man who formed The Commitments, decides that it's time to find a new band-a multicultural outfit that specializes not in soul music but in the folk songs of Woody Guthrie. With empathy and insight, The Deportees and Other Stories takes a new slant on the immigrant experience, something of increasing relevance in today's Ireland.

About this title

About the Author

Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist, and screenwriter. He is a recipient of the Irish PEN Award for Literature, and his novel Paddy Clarke Ha-Ha won the Man Booker Prize in 1993. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991.

From Publishers Weekly

Doyle's dynamic first collection of short stories offers light and heartfelt perspectives on the effects of immigration on Irish culture. Originally serialized for a Dublin newspaper, all eight stories draw from the conceit of someone born in Ireland [who] meets someone who has come to live there. The opener, Guess Who's Coming for the Dinner, covers familiar ground—a self-proclaimed modern father is taken aback when his daughter invites a black fella to dinner—but Doyle's wry sense of humor saves the narrative from triteness. Fans of Doyle's previous work will revel in the title story, a follow-up to The Commitments that finds Jimmy Rabbitte masterminding a multicultural revival of Woody Guthrie music. The later stories find Doyle experimenting with different styles and voices: New Boy charts an unlikely friendship between a nine-year-old African immigrant and two small, angry Irish boys, while Black Hoodie finds a timid, indifferent teenager discovering his passion for civil rights and a Nigerian girl. There are some abrupt endings that veer toward the convenient, though this may be an unavoidable consequence of their serial origins. Doyle's immense talent as a writer is neatly showcased throughout, and his sharp wit adds a richness to every tale. (Jan.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0792753291
• ISBN 13: 9780792753292
• Binding: MP3 CD