The Barrytown Trilogy Series

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.

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the follow up to his acclaimed debut novel The Commitments
 
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.