The Thing About December

Painfully moving ... Ryan’s work has set a benchmark to which other writers will aspire.

John Boyne, The Irish Times

Ryan is a remarkably good chronicler of contemporary Irish life

Irish Independent

Compelling and heartbreaking . . beautiful, yet simple and utterly convincing

The Sunday Times

Ryan holds you to the page by the sheer force of his language ... If you’re interested in the state of Irish fiction now, pick up a copy of this book.

Nadine O'Regan, Sunday Business Post

Powerful . . . Ryan is clearly committed to his subject and possesses the insight and empathy to illuminate the heart of the matter.

Claire Kilroy, Financial Times

Displaying again his exceptional gift for pinning a voice to the page, Ryan transforms Johnsey’s self-torturing internal soundtrack into something that’ll have you alternately cringing, cheering and laughing.

Daily Mail

A powerful and touching meditation on loneliness and isolation . . . Ryan continues to establish himself as an important voice in recording contemporary Ireland.

Daily Telegraph

Cements Ryan as the sharpest chronicler of modern Irish life

Esquire

His paragraphs are unnoticeably beautiful, his heart always on show, and he writes with a social accuracy that is devastating

Anne Enright

Powerful writing that certainly cements Ryan’s status as the newly crowned king of what the Irish Times has dubbed "recession lit".

The Sunday Times

Clear-eyed and moving.

Belinda McKeon, Irish Independent

Ryan’s urgent, poetic prose captures the internal distress of his main character with forensic intensity. . . . a testament to this brightest of new writing talents. . . . Ryan has risen to the challenge of his second novel admirably. Recommended.

The Independent

A force of nature ... a life-enhancing talent

Sebastian Barry