The Big Yaroo Paperback – October 2, 2019

jeez, you murder one housewife, and.................in actuality, it's just something francie did, and for the most part, takes it all in his stride. a totally mad stride, mind, one so tortured and distant from reality, that brutally murdering mrs nooge just plays a small part! no biggie, his 50 odd years incarceration in 'fizzbags' mansion.this brilliant sequel to 'the butcher boy' (which although allusions are made to his past, it really is in your interest to have read it before this!) finds francie brady in his 60s, long-time inmate of the above institution, out where the buses don't run, planning another great escape, and the editor of his own magazine - the big yaroo - which will explain everything to anyone who reads it (aye, right!). but it's not all fun and games as we wade through the dreadful things he's done, mostly of which he thinks he's hard done by, or at the very least, someone else's fault.patrick mccabe has skillfully captured the process of francie's madness and masterfully described how francie views it all through continual references to his pitiful childhood and imagined relationships with those he knew from his home town. as i've said before, mccabe (along with the brilliant james kelman) is the master of putting down on paper what really goes on in people's heads - this is what we need to read!genius is not a word to be bandied about, but mccabe is one, you don't read his books, you experience them!

A trip to the darkest regions of a confused existence. An Irish walk on the wild side. The years and decades have passed by but Francie remains a prisoner of a poisoned mind. Truth and fiction blur and meld into one narrative. There is no escape. It seems a case of the better the devil you know. Who knows someday he may find some solace, peace and hopefully a lasting friendship. Paraphrasing The Beatles "all you need is love"!