Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade
Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade is a 2006 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the sixth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.[2]
Author | Paul Howard |
---|---|
Illustrator | Alan Clarke |
Cover artist | Alan Clarke |
Country | Republic of Ireland |
Language | English |
Series | Ross O'Carroll-Kelly |
Genre | Comic novel, satire |
Publisher | Penguin Books |
Publication date | October 2006[1] |
Media type | Paperback |
Pages | 304 |
ISBN | 978-1-84488-090-4 |
823.92 | |
Preceded by | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress |
Followed by | This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own |
Title
The title is a reference to coitus interruptus: Sydney Parade is the last DART stop before Sandymount, where Ross lives. Many other such phrases are known, e.g. "getting off at Redfern" (Sydney, Australia);[3] "getting off at Edge Hill" (Liverpool);[4][5] "getting off at Haymarket" (Edinburgh).[6]
Cover
An initial cover design featured a naked Ross holding his "sympathetic pregnancy" bump, a parody of Demi Moore's famous 1991 Vanity Fair cover. Penguin manager Michael McLoughlin vetoed that, and illustrator Alan Clarke produced a new version showing Ross wearing a Leinster Rugby shirt.[7]
Plot
Sorcha is pregnant; Ross begins to experience a sympathetic pregnancy. His mother, Fionnuala, becomes a successful chick-lit author, but her realistic depiction of financial crime causes suspicion to fall on his father's affairs. Ross and his friends invest in Lillie's Bordello, a Dublin nightclub.[8]
Reception
Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade was the surprise winner of the Galaxy Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards.[9][10][11][12]
It was the best-selling book in Ireland for 2006, selling 39,339 copies.[13]
It was listed among the shortlist of 50 for the Irish Book of the Decade prize for 2000–10.[14]
In her work The Undecidable: Jacques Derrida and Paul Howard, Clare Gorman analysed the relationship between Ross and his mother in the book, noting that "Ross has a pathologically intense relationship with her that he denies and represses by insulting her at every opportunity."[15][16]
References
- "Rich pickings for readers on dark evenings". Independent.ie.
- Davenport, Fionn; O'Carroll, Oda (September 1, 2007). "Dublin encounter". Lonely Planet – via Google Books.
- Blackman, John (February 15, 2012). "Best of Aussie Slang". Momentum – via Google Books.
- Deiss, Richard (August 7, 2013). "The Cathedral of the Winged Wheel and the Sugarbeet Station: Trivia and Anecdotes on 222 Railway Stations in Europe". BoD – Books on Demand – via Google Books.
- "21 euphemisms that readers grew up with". May 18, 2013 – via www.bbc.com.
- "get off at..., v. — Green's Dictionary of Slang". greensdictofslang.com.
- "D4's favourite son is going on display – and it's like, ort actually?". Independent.ie.
- Maher, Eamon; O'Brien, Eugene (September 4, 2014). "From Prosperity to Austerity: A Socio-Cultural Critique of the Celtic Tiger and Its Aftermath". Oxford University Press – via Google Books.
- "An Post Irish Book Awards » Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade by Ross O'Carroll Kelly".
- "Coming of age for Irish Book Awards". Independent.ie.
- "When fiction lite lays the golden egg". Independent.ie.
- Walsh, Caroline. "McCabe takes top prize at Irish Book Awards". The Irish Times.
- "An epic savours a Costa win". The Irish Times.
- Kennedy, Eoin Burke. "Irish book of decade shortlist unveiled". The Irish Times.
- Gorman, Clare (June 1, 2015). "The Undecidable: Jacques Derrida and Paul Howard". Cambridge Scholars Publishing – via Google Books.
- Gorman, Clare. "Northside, southside, comrades all: when Ross O'Carroll Kelly met Jacques Derrida". The Irish Times.