Catchy title don't you think? I am eagerly awaiting my turn to read Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, a book that has been called "extravagantly entertaining" by the New York Times Book Review. I was immediately intrigued after reading a glowing review, and I realized that I have a penchant for books that take place in boarding schools. I don't know the reason for this exactly but a few of my favorite books are The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, and of course Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling--all taking place in boarding schools.
Here is a description of the book that may intrigue you too!
Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin’s venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop?
Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin’s venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop?
Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, an overweight genius who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory?
Could it involve Carl, the teenage drug dealer and borderline psychotic who is Skippy’s rival in love?
Or could “the Automator”—the ruthless, smooth-talking headmaster intent on modernizing the school—have something to hide?
Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the subject of this dazzling and uproarious novel, unraveling a mystery that links the boys of Seabrook College to their parents and teachers in ways nobody could have imagined. With a cast of characters that ranges from hip-hop-loving fourteen-year-old Eoin “MC Sexecutioner” Flynn to basketball playing midget Philip Kilfether, packed with questions and answers on everything from Ritalin, to M-theory, to bungee jumping, to the hidden meaning of the poetry of Robert Frost, Skippy Dies is a heartfelt, hilarious portrait of the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of adolescence, and a tragic depiction of a world always happy to sacrifice its weakest members. As the twenty-first century enters its teenage years, this is a breathtaking novel from a young writer who will come to define his generation.
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I find it appealing that they tell you straight out that somebody dies. Like the book John Dies at the End by David Wong.
ReplyDeleteBTW, how do they know this person is about to define a generation? Aren't they trying to define a generation by saying something like that?
I love boarding school books TOO! I am definitely adding this to the to-read pile. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSee also DPL's blog entry for January 2, 2008 for more boarding school nostalgia and booklists!
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