A wildly comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, At Swim-Two-Birds is the story of a young, lazy, and frequently drunk Irish college student who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dublin. When not in bed (where he seems to spend most of his time) or reading, he is composing a mischief-filled novel about Dermot Trellis, a second-rate author whose characters ultimately rebel against him and seek vengeance. From drugging him as he sleeps to dropping the ceiling on his head, these figures of Irish myth make Trellis ...
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A wildly comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, At Swim-Two-Birds is the story of a young, lazy, and frequently drunk Irish college student who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dublin. When not in bed (where he seems to spend most of his time) or reading, he is composing a mischief-filled novel about Dermot Trellis, a second-rate author whose characters ultimately rebel against him and seek vengeance. From drugging him as he sleeps to dropping the ceiling on his head, these figures of Irish myth make Trellis pay dearly for his bad writing. Hilariously funny and inventive, At Swim-Two-Birds has influenced generations of writers, opening up new possibilities for what can be done in fiction. It is a true masterpiece of Irish literature.
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Add this copy of At Swim-Two-Birds to cart. $39.64, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Blackstone Publishing.
Add this copy of At Swim-Two-Birds to cart. $70.45, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Blackstone Publishing.
influenced by Joyce (who praised him), O'Brien's work is more accessible and more weighted toward the comic. This is unquestionably his masterpiece, though that doesn't mean to put it on a stodgy pedestal. It's literate but loopy, fun in the rich pile-on of authorial devices that anticipated and influenced what has come to be known as metafiction. I confess to having read it 3 times in the past 40 years; in my case a poor memory enabled me to enjoy it all over again.
