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Skippy Dies

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Skippy Dies

By: Paul Murray
Narrated by: Patrick Moy
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About this listen

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Paul Murray's hilarious book, Skippy Dies. Read by the actor Patrick Moy.

'Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair . . .'

And so begins this epic, tragic, comic, brilliant novel set in and around Dublin's Seabrook College for Boys. Principally concerning the lives, loves, mistakes and triumphs of overweight maths-whiz Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate Daniel 'Skippy' Juster, it features a frisbee-throwing siren called Lori, the joys (and horrors) of first love, the use and blatant misuse of prescription drugs, Carl (the official school psychopath), various attempts to unravel string theory . . . while at the same time exploring the very deepest mysteries of the human heart.

'Noisy, hilarious, tragic, endlessly inventive, plain brilliant. A carnival of a novel' The Times

 Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Feel-Good Funny Scary Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Witty Comedy

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Critic reviews

Savagely funny, brimful of wit, energy, poetry and vision, unflaggingly entertaining. A triumph
One of the most enjoyable, funny and moving reads of this year. A rare tragicomedy that's both genuinely tragic and genuinely comic
Darkly comic, dazzles, every line drips ideas for fun. Unputdownably funny, captivating. A masterpiece
Ambitious, wise, funny, fiercely intelligent. The beauty of this cynical, hopeful, beautifully written book is that it builds a detailed world to explore life, the universe and everything
Hilarious, heartbreaking, totally engrossing. A triumph
Noisy, hilarious, tragic, endlessly inventive, plain brilliant. A carnival of a novel
Marvellous, witty, heartbreaking, intensely moving, excellent. The writing is second to none, the banter brilliant. Crazy, but beautiful
Savagely funny, brimful of wit, energy, poetry and vision, unflaggingly entertaining. A triumph
Hilarious, heartbreaking, totally engrossing. A triumph
All stars
Most relevant
In the beginning Skippy (Daniel) dies during a doughnut eating contest with his fellow boarders at their strict Irish school. We retrace the steps that led to this competition and delight in the banter of the 14yr olds as they discover girls, drugs and adult emotions. The teachers at the school have their own problems and the headmaster in particular is brilliantly brought to life by the narrator. Be warned, this is quite sad, despite the comedic undertones and quite serious issues are always on the sidelines demanding attention.

Bittersweet Teen and Middle Age Irish Angst

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I was a little unsure when I selected this book as I normally go for thrillers or a bit of action, but I wanted to try something different and it certainly was that. The story is set in a boy's school in Ireland and covers a range of different events and character perspectives.

Some parts are funny (very funny), some sad, some dark. The narration is very good and each of the characters are brought to life extremely well. The writing is superb giving lots of details with a great command of language and nuance.

There are lots of chords with a real life school where religion, puberty, drugs, sex and conflict get mixed together.

The part that disappointed me was the plot, it wasn't very deep and seemed to be a collection of situations and sketches that flowed well, but didn't seem to lead anywhere significant. I can't help feeling that a better plot with with a converged ending would have made it into a great read.

Certainly different !

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It’s a shame it’s not possible to give 6 stars for the reading of this fine, almost flawless book.

Extraordinary narration, excellent book.

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Not just a fabulous story, but clever narration from a sensitive reader. Didn’t want it to finish. Laugh, cry, cringe a bit, beautiful book.

Brilliant story, brilliantly read.

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laugh out loud funny and perceptive novel brought to life by stunning performance. Paul Murray's ear for dialogue is extraordinary as is his eye for detail and characters. a real treat

entertaining and thought provoking book

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