Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and saw his first novel, “The Commitments”, published in 1987. It was later adapted for the big screen, a version that saw Star Trek’s Colm Meaney and a very young Andrea Corr among the cast. “The Snapper” was firs published in 1990 and is the second book in his “Barrytown Trilogy”.

Where “The Commitments” followed Jimmy Rabbite’s attempts to bring soul “back” to Dublin, he takes a back seat in “The Snapper”. (He now hopes to be a famous DJ, rather than a manager or a drummer – an ambition that quickly earns him the nickname “Larry Gogan”. You’ll probably need to have spent little time in Ireland to catch that one… ). Instead, the starring roles go to his sister, Sharon, and his father, Jimmy Senior. The book opens with Sharon in a horrible situation : twenty years old, still living at home and three months pregnant, she’s breaking the ‘bad’ news to her parents. She’s decided not to name the father – though, there’s plenty of speculation, suggestion and rumour over the following six months. Some of it is embarrassingly close to the mark, and causes her no end of trouble. While Sharon’s pregnancy obviously isn’t easy for her, it also puts Jimmy Snr through the mill – shock, concern, embarrassment and anger. He even, briefly, casts himself as her champion in defending her honour.

A very enjoyable and easily book – it’s also a good deal better than “The Commitments”. While the language is (authentically) ‘colourful’, it’s generally a good-natured book and there’s plenty of humour. (However, some of the humour may be lost if you’re not familiar with the Irish dialect). Well worth reading.