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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 Funny Inspiring Scary Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Witty Feel-Good Comedy

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
Did this as a part of 3 for 2 offer I am soo happy I did a wonderful uplifting book well read ,,,, give it a chance it is a slow burner.

so happy

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The reading is superb. Crisp and clear, no bad edits and great voice characterisation. 21 hours of consistent quality. The story is great too. Full of humour but ultimately a tragic story of life, the universe and everything. One of my favourite audible buys.

Reading tour de force

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I loved this audiobook. It really was wonderful. Incredibly funny for the most part, and terrifying as the mother of a young boy who will one day be a teenage boy!!

Wonderful!

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If you could sum up Skippy Dies in three words, what would they be?

Inbetweeners with depth

What was one of the most memorable moments of Skippy Dies?

The bop

Which character – as performed by Patrick Moy – was your favourite?

The Autometer (Greg). Brilliantly acted by mr Moy.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both, although more towards the laughing

Any additional comments?

This is an outstanding novel that combines some characters in depth (Skippy, Howard) and outlines of others Greg, Mario that provide brilliant comic back drop to the issues of the others. All of the characters are believable and can be recognised in elements of people in real life.

The book on its own is fantastic, add to this the genius acting of Patrick Moy who renders each character with wonderful accents and you have the perfect audio book.

Possibly my favourite audiobook

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Skippy Dies is the poignant, shrewdly observed tale of life in a boys’ boarding school in Ireland. It also happens to be brilliantly funny. But what provides the cherry on the icing of this multi-layered cake is Patrick Moy’s narration.
I can’t adequately explain just how he takes the story and makes it his own; all I can say is I had to listen to some passages more than once because his delivery and timing were so, so perfect. The further in you get, the funnier he becomes - I love how much he seems to relish every word he reads.
One day in the not too distant future I imagine there will be awards given for the narrators of audiobooks. When that day comes round, Patrick Moy should be given the inaugural Oscar equivalent, and I will be there cheering him on.

Give that man an Oscar

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