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Winner of the 2014 Guardian First Book Award.
Winner of the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.
This magnificent collection takes us to Glanbeigh, a small town in rural Ireland - a town in which the youth have the run of the place. Colin Barrett's debut does not take us to Glanbeigh alone; there are other towns, and older characters. But each story is defined by a youth lived in a crucible of menace and desire - and each crackles with the uniform energy and force that distinguish this terrific collection.
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Young Skins Synopsis
A blockbuster collection from one of Ireland's most exciting young voices: ';Sharp and lively... a rough, charged, and surprisingly fun read' (Interview). A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree * Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award * Winner of theGuardianFirst Book Award * Winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature Enter the small, rural town of Glanbeigh, a place whose fate took a downturn with the Celtic Tiger, a desolate spot where buffoonery and tension simmer and erupt, and booze-sodden boredom fills the corners of every pub and nightclub. Here, and in the towns beyond, the young live hard and wear the scars. Amongst them, there's jilted Jimmy, whose best friend Tug is the terror of the town and Jimmy's sole company in his search for the missing Clancy kid; Bat, a lovesick soul with a face like ';a bowl of mashed up spuds' even before Nubbin Tansey's boot kicked it in; and Arm, a young and desperate criminal whose destiny is shaped when he and his partner, Dympna, fail to carry out a job. In each story, a local voice delineates the grittiness of post boom Irish society. These are unforgettable characters rendered through silence, humor, and violence. ';Lyrical and tough and smart... What seems to be about sorrow and foreboding turns into an adventure, instead, in the tender art of the unexpected.' Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize Awardwinning author ';Sometimes comic, sometimes melancholy,Young Skinstouches the heart, as well as the mind.' Irish American Post
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Colin Barrett Press Reviews
'Colin Barrett's sentences are lyrical and tough and smart, but there is something more here that makes him a really good writer. His stories are set in a familiar emotional landscape, but they give us endings that are new. What seems to be about sorrow and foreboding turns into an adventure, instead, in the tender art of the unexpected. -- Anne Enright
'Language, structure, style - Colin Barrett has all the weapons at his disposal, and how, and he has an intuitive sense for what a short story is, and what it can do.' -- Kevin Barry
'Colin Barrett is a young man in the town of the short story, but it's fair to say he has the run of the place. This is a joyously fine collection, crackling with energy and verve, fit for the back pocket of anyone who loves a good story well told.' -- Jon McGregor
'Magnificent...A stunning debut... The timeless nature of each story means this collection can - and will - be read many years from now.' Sunday Times
'(Ireland) Incredible... Human violence, beauty, brilliance of language - this book reminds you of the massive things you can do in short fiction.' -- Evie Wyld
'Exciting and stylistically adventurous.' -- Colm Toibin Irish Times
About Colin Barrett
Colin Barrett was born in 1982 and grew up in County Mayo. In 2009 he was awarded the Penguin Ireland Prize. His work has been published in The Stinging Fly magazine and in the anthologies, Sharp Sticks, Driven Nails (Stinging Fly Press, 2010) and Town and Country (Faber and Faber, 2013). This is his first book.
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