| Re: I have just read....
...Oh Play That Thing, by Roddy Doyle.
This is the sequel to "A Star Called Henry", where Doyle told the story of Irish independence through the eyes of one of the people fighting in/for it, Henry Smart.
In this book, Henry has fled Ireland (where he's under a death sentence from his former commanders) to America. When he realises that New York isn't quite far enough away from Ireland, he flees further to Chicago, where he ends up being Louis Armstrong's bagman. As you do.
Roddy Doyle is the bloke currently saddled with the title "Ireland's Greatest Living Writer", plus one Booker Prize win, which probably explains the middling reviews for this book from the literati. However, if you read it just as a "rollicking adventure yarn" set in Prohibition era USA, it's great fun. And anyone who's read The Commitments will know how good Doyle is at getting the music into his writing. Jazz, and Satchmo in particular, comes alive on the page here. |