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For more information on cookies see our Cookie Policy. (BUTTON) X Ireland’s Favourite Failure Review: An engaging manifesto for underachievers Stand-up writer: Karl MacDermott Stand-up writer: Karl MacDermott John Fleming Sat, Aug 2, 2014, 01:00 First published: Sat, Aug 2, 2014, 01:00 * * * * [] Book Title: Ireland’s Favourite Failure ISBN-13: B00JNWFO7K Author: Karl MacDermott Publisher: Amazon Kindle Guideline Price: £1.84 A grown man dons shorts and a stripy T-shirt and, bearing a bright orange football, calls to the house of a former childhood friend. A frail version of his one-time pal’s mother answers the door, at first not recognising the fortysomething. “Is Dermot there?” “No, Lar love. He’s in Botswana. He’s an engineer.” The tragicomic and wistful gags of Ireland’s Favourite Failure are typified by this incident, including the feeling of being left far behind by dispersed peers. Karl MacDermott’s Galwegian hero, Lar Gibbons, will chime with anyone born in the 1960s, as will his yearly World Going Back in Time Day. Events such as raiding an orchard are nods to innocent thrill as much as flights of fancy from adult chains. In more than 30 episodes, allegedly written for a defunct western-seaboard literary journal, MacDermott hops around a life’s moments: losing jobs, seeking jobs; losing women, seeking women; imagining artistic endeavours, failing to accomplish them; emigrating to London, coming home. The Salthill setting is one of many elements that suggest this Galway-incubated comedian and writer is rather familiar with the ways of his fictional character. These pages brim with nostalgia – for analogue simplicity, for irresponsibility, for the crazy prison of the child. They are laced with the begrudgery and self-loathing that once permeated Ireland, offering a healthy dose of pre-Tiger Ireland where many felt they had to apologise for being Irish. Lar’s contempt for the nation – television presenters, show business, weather – is inherited. He and his father are happy only when they are giving out stink. MacDermott is an amusing and tight writer; his set-piece vignettes weave small everyday adventures. Whimsy, satire and farce – and a flavour of Richmal Crompton – are all found in the silliness of situations. In one scene Lar spots an attractive woman entering a building. He peers through a window to see her stand up and announce, “My name is Siobhán and I’m an alcoholic.” Lar determines to join this AA group to meet her. But he does not drink, so he must first set about becoming an alcoholic. This engenders the task of acquiring drinking companions. And so the episodes roll, playing with slapstick, mishap and the humour of coincidence. Standup comedy, of which MacDermott is a pioneering past master, is briefly explored in all its promise and terror. A spirited defence of why there is no point in going out is neatly presented. A date means Lar is reluctantly all set to go out for the evening. But then she cancels, and he is even more delighted with a “surprise night in”. Someone once posited a definition of the novel as a long piece of prose with something wrong with it. For MacDermott’s book that flaw may be its lack of murder, mystery or cunning plot. But, if a novel is really about men, morals and society, Ireland’s Favourite Failure is an engaging manifesto for underachievers, slackers and people who think themselves out of it. There is a real danger its author has punctured his own philosophy: this book is an engrossing and amusing achievement. Sat, Aug 2, 2014, 01:00 First published: Sat, Aug 2, 2014, 01:00 * * * * Subscribe. [image.jpg] Click here to sign up to the Irish Times Book Club More from The Irish Times * Books Lebanon * Music Pop Corner: Selena marks her ex’s spot; Zayn chaffed at control * People Impossibly photogenic: the Tiger’s Nest, or Taktsang Palphug, monastery, Bhutan’s most sacred site. Photograph: EyesWideOpen/Getty Bhutan: the price of paradise * Opinion “The Red Hand, that ubiquitous symbol of Ulster, straddles the political and sectarian divide.” Right hand, wrong foot – An Irishman’s Diary about political and religious symbolism ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268859|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Bo oks;cookie=info;] ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268858|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Bo oks;cookie=info;] [image.jpg] IFRAME: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playl ists/72151780&color=b74f7d&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comm ents=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false Subscribe on iTunes Follow on Soundcloud Listen on Stitcher Thomas Morris: the stories may not range very far geographically, but Morris manages to display remarkable range for a young man in his cast of characters, proving himself equally at home in a middle-aged woman’s heels or an old man’s slippers. The Book Club Click to join in the discussion about this month's book: We Don't Know What We're Doing by Thomas Morris Hennessy short story of the month How to Float by Niamh Donnelly: Two girls drift through a polluted paradise in this month’s winning Hennessy New Irish Writing short story Most Read in Culture 1 Family sugar audit: Eva Orsmond with Louise and Ollie Ryan Television: A sugar-crash course in how we are poisoning ourselves 2 Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in Creed ‘Apollo Creed meant everything to African-Americans’ 3 Did Philip K Dick dream of electric sheep? Much worse 4 Final bow: Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc at the end of the final Friends, in 2004 Friends: they lived perfect lives in a time of plenty. Of course we want them back 5 ‘I think cognitive enhancers should be allowed for academics’ Unthinkable: Is it unethical to take brain stimulants? Never miss a story. SUBSCRIBE IFRAME: //www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook. com%2FIrishTimesBooks&width=292&height=258&colorscheme=light&show_faces =true&header=false&stream=false&show_border=true Short stories All the Boys, a short story by Thomas Morris Eilís Ni Dhúibhne New Zealand Flax, a short story by Eílís Ní Dhuibhne Alan McMonagle: has written two collections of short stories, Liar Liar (Wordsonthestreet, 2008) and Psychotic Episodes (Arlen House, 2013) and has just signed two-book deal with Picador Bleeding Boy, a short story by Alan McMonagle Book reviews At Home in the Revolution review: the Rising’s clan na gals Review: Perspectives for a pathbreaker 1916: A Global History review: midpoint for a world engulfed in war High Treason: The Appeal of Roger Casement. By courtesy of Rosensteil’s on behalf of the Estate of Sir John Lavery UK Government Art Collection Making 1916: The stuff of history John De Lorean: a high-octane outline, a glittering absence, always on the move. It’s tempting to see him simply as a gambler where the game always means more than the outcome. But he was also a talented engineer and an innovator, responsible for that classic muscle car the Pontiac Firebird. Photograph: PA Gull by Glenn Patterson: John DeLorean, taking us all for one hell of a ride Sign up to the weekly Irish Times books newsletter for features, podcasts and more Google ID ____________________ Name ____________________ Surname ____________________ Email ____________________ (BUTTON) Sign Up [X] I would also like to receive occasional update emails from The Irish Times New poetry Lebanon Liz Quirke Poems: Nurture and Juno Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz: inspiration for WB Yeats, Kevin McAleer, Fintan O’Toole ... and you? Photograph: Sligo County Library Improve on Kevin McAleer’s WB Yeats meme: win two silk kimonos and gazelle* Great reads From crosswords to great wines and the best bits from The Irish Times - Buy an Irish Times Book today Brought to Book What lessons has Danielle McLaughlin learned about life from reading? “To question. To see things from different viewpoints. That there are as many versions of a particular story as there are people involved. That some stories don’t get told at all” Danielle McLaughlin: ‘I think we need different books at different times’ Frankie Gaffney: I did fill an artist’s notebook with anecdotes and phrases once I’d decided to write a book. I’d recommend this to anyone; daily life is instantly transformed into research, and life itself becomes more rewarding when you start finding and recording value in the mundane Frankie Gaffney’s advice to writers: ‘give up the booze and break some rules’ Shelved: a selection of books by Irish women writers. Might some of these names figure in the final 12? Women writers Putting Irish women writers back in the picture Subscribe About Us Policy & Terms Subscribe * Subscription Bundles * Gift Subscriptions * Home Delivery Irish Times Products & Services * ePaper * eBooks * Crosswords * Newspaper Archive * Dating * Ancestors * Email Alerts & Newsletters * Article Archive * Executive Jobs * Page Sales * Photo Sales About Us * Advertise * Contact Us * The Irish Times Trust * Careers Download on the App Store Download on Google Play * Our Partners * Rewarding Times * MyHome.ie * Irish Racing * Entertainment.ie * Top 1000 * MyAntiques.ie * The Gloss * Irish Times Training * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Policy * Cookie Information * Community Standards * Copyright * FAQs © 2015 THE IRISH TIMES For the best site experience please enable JavaScript in your browser settings Sign In ____________________ ____________________ (BUTTON) Sign In Forgot Password? Don't have an account? 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