Very twisted and insane story told by a demented young boy who surely needs some Ritalin. Patrick McCabe is a very talented writer and this novel was nominated for the Booker prize; it is a little hard to follow at times, between Francie's disjointed narrative and his madness, but well worth the effort.

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Like a hilarious and dark version of Catcher in the Rye

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This haunting novel is about a little boy growing up in 1960's Ireland in a completely dysfunctional household with a suicidal mother and alcoholic father. Francie Brady is a survivor, he makes it through several incarcerations and is sustained by his love for his best friend Joe, despite the growing distance between them on all levels. Written in kind of a psychotic stream of consciousness, Francie's wreckless descent into madness would be unbearable to witness were it not for the hilarity that Patrick McCabe maintains throughout.

I'm curious to know what The Butcher Boy by Colin MacCabe is. Patrick McCabe's version won the 1992 Irish Time Aer Lingus Prize, and was made in to a depressing movie with Steven Rea in 1997.

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Very haunting novel...a good quick read!

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