Skintown
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  • Published: 15 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784162733
  • Imprint: Black Swan Ireland
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99

Skintown

Formats & editions
Paperback
15 May 2018
Audiobook
6 Apr 2017
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An energetic, adrenaline-fuelled debut novel from the well-known Irish actor, reminiscent of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.

‘We’re in the back of a car belonging to the men our mothers told us to never get in the back of a car of. I close my eyes and wonder how many girls will come to my funeral.’

Vincent Patrick Duffy has already checked out. Trapped between Skintown’s narrow horizons, he chops ribs and chickens in a takeaway, dreaming of escape, joint after freshly rolled joint.

A mindless act of kindness leads to the unlikeliest of business opportunities. Where the government has failed, might the second summer of love and a little pill with a dove on it be the broom to sweep away the hatred and replace it with love, so much love?

Skintown is Vinny’s drink- and drug-fuelled odyssey through fighting, fishing, rioting, romance, reconciliation and acid house. Bristling with a restless energy and drunk on black humour, this superb debut is a wild ride.

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'Ciaran McMenamin writes brilliantly ... Horrifying and hilarious, Skintown is a compulsive read.' Liz Nugent

'Lures the reader into the madcap night and then delivers a hairpin twist.' Irish Times

'A supercharged riot of a debut novel, zinging with confidence and intelligence.' Joseph O'Connor
  • Published: 15 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784162733
  • Imprint: Black Swan Ireland
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

Ciaran McMenamin

Ciaran McMenamin was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in 1975. A graduate of the RSAMD, he has worked extensively for the past twenty years as an actor in film, television and theatre. His acclaimed first novel, Skintown, was a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick.

portrait photo of Ciaran McMenamin

Also by Ciaran McMenamin

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Praise for Skintown

A supercharged riot of a debut novel, zinging with confidence and intelligence.

Joseph O'Connor

Scurrilous, saucy, turbo-powered, unputdownable.

Carlo Gébler

If you loved The Glorious Heresies and are looking for the next terrific Irish author, here be Ciaran McMenamin. . . . a cross between Trainspotting and Douglas Coupland, . . . sprinkled with a warm enveloping humour and compassion. It is that good.

Ken Bruen

A ribald, wise-cracking joyride through young lives lit up by clubs, drugs and ecstatic love. Skintown sings of escape, and the loyalty to music and rapture over the politics of hate.

Rob Doyle

Ciaran McMenamin writes brilliantly. His characters are achingly vivid and entirely credible and the pacing is Olympian. Horrifying and hilarious, Skintown is a compulsive read.

Liz Nugent

A cracking read.

The Arts Show, BBC Radio Ulster

McMenamin writes with verve and honesty. . . it lures the reader into the madcap night and then delivers a hairpin twist.

Sarah Gilmartin, The Irish Times

I read the first page of this and was immediately hooked. It's rattlingly written, hugely immersive, funny too. Adored it.

Rick O'Shea, Rick O'Shea Book Club

Exhilarating. . . . A TNT-powered head-rush of a novel soaked in the smell of burning tyres and set to the MDMA beat of 1990s rave culture. . . . Vinny is a hugely witty companion.

Metro

McMenamin strikes a skilled balance between acerbic wit and the portrayal of absolute desolation. . . . In vivid colour, he brings to life one unforgettable, game-changing night out. . . . McMenamin delivers truths with the speed of flying bullets and the impact leaves you wounded. At the same time, the hilarity of the novel keeps you hurtling onward, racing to the end. This is an absolute page-turner and an impressive burst out of the traps for first-timer Ciaran McMenamin.

RTE.ie

Fizzing with energy . . . as poignant as it's funny.

Sue Leonard, Irish Examiner

An exuberant style which vividly captures the wildness of of the 90s rave culture.

Belfast Telegraph
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