Evening of Long Goodbyes

The brilliant first novel by the author of Skippy Dies

Acclaimed as one of the funniest and most assured debuts of recent years, An Evening of Long Goodbyes is the story of Dubliner Charles Hythloday and the heroic squandering of the family inheritance. Featuring drinking, greyhound racing, vanishing furniture, more drinking, old movies, assorted Dublin lowlife, eviction and the perils of community theatre, Paul Murray's first novel is a tour de force of comedic writing wrapped in an honest-to-goodness tale of a man - and a family - living in denial.

'Hilarious, rich and satisfying' The Times Literary Supplement

'Comedy of the highest calibre and a good, fast-paced yarn. An excellent read' Sunday Tribune

'Arguably the funniest debut in years, An Evening of Long Goodbyes ranks with Zadie Smith's White Teeth as a stunning document of an English-speaking metropolis in flux. . . every joke, every observation, every name reverberates with playful nuance and nervy significance; the end result is a gleeful tweak of the New Ireland's proud nose' LA Times

Since the publication of An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Paul Murray has received much critical acclaim; his second novel, Skippy Dies, was Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010.