From the highly acclaimed author of Bad Day in Blackrock -
inspiration for the 2012 award-winning film What Richard Did,
directed by Lenny Abrahamson... Shortlisted for the 2021 An Post
Irish Book Awards Eason Novel of the Year... A darkly funny,
gripping and profoundly moving novel about a life spinning out of
control, a life live without the bedrock of familial love, and the
corruption of material wealth that tears at the soul. 'It was my
father's arrest that brought me here, although you could certainly
say that I took the scenic route.' Here is rehab, where Ben - the
only son of a rich South Dublin banker - is piecing together the
shattered remains of his life. Abruptly cut off, at the age of 27,
from a life of heedless privilege, Ben flounders through a world of
drugs and dead-end jobs, his self-esteem at rock bottom. Even his
once-adoring girlfriend, Clio, is at the end of her tether. Then
Ben runs into an old school friend who wants to cut him in on a
scam: a shady property deal in the Balkans. The deal will make Ben
rich and, at one fell swoop, will deliver him from all his
troubles: his addictions, his father's very public disgrace, and
his own self-loathing and regret. Problems solved. But something is
amiss. For one thing, the Serbian partners don't exactly look like
fools. (In fact they look like gangsters.) And, for another, Ben is
being followed everywhere he goes. Someone is being taken for a
ride. But who? Praise for White City: 'I can't recommend it enough.
It's often hilariously funny but it's also a sharp and smart
dissection of contemporary materialism' John Boyne, author of The
Heart's Invisible Furies 'An immensely enjoyable and tautly written
account of a young man from an affluent family whose life of
privilege is turned upside down' Sunday Times 'Spiky, blackly funny
novel that offers an incisive study on class, entitlement and
masculinity' Independent 'Capacious and comic, luxuriantly written,
with an intricate plot and heightened characterisation... both
riotous rant and thoughtful coming-of-age tale' Dublin Review of
Books 'Outstanding second novel... A brilliantly entertaining novel
that is profound in the most unexpected ways. Power is that rarity,
a genuinely funny novelist... Yet all the more remarkable is
Power's handling of tone: this novel moves effortlessly between
humour and sincerity; it is steeped in empathy and raw anger'
Literary Review 'White City is likely to be the most solid,
well-rounded novel to come out of Ireland this year... At once a
pacy page-turner with a nerve-frazzling plot and a realistic and
haunting tale of our interconnected world... White City is an
all-round superb book that will stay with you long after the
inevitable binge read' Irish Independent 'White City synthesises
familiar forms into a whole: the rogue's confession, the young man
finding his way, the post-Celtic Tiger satire on puffed-up,
self-perpetuating bullshit businesses... Power shows his own
capacity for comic timing and pithy apercus' Guardian ' An
extremely funny book... Kevin Power shows his chops as a proper
heavyweight novelist. Unequivocally one of the most purely
enjoyable books, in the classic-novel sense... a zinger on every
page' Peter Murphy, Arena (RTE Radio 1) '[A] sprawling social
satire of the sort we seldom see in Irish fiction... a tremendously
zesty and zeitgeisty piece of writing' Sunday Times (Ireland)
'[T]his dark caper evolves to ask searching moral questions... with
its 11th-hour twist, this ambitious, attention-grabbing novel seems
ripe for cinematic adaptation' Daily Mail 'Kevin Power's Bad Day in
Blackrock (2008) was one of the most memorable Irish novels of the
new century... White City has passages of striking lyrical subtlety
and the different storylines are managed with great dexterity. Much
has changed in Ireland since Bad Day in Blackrock was published,
but as Power's adept and absorbing new novel reminds us, much has
not. White City demands to be read' Irish Times 'A fast-paced and
wickedly funny novel. Hugely entertaining. White City grabbed me
from the opening pages and didn't let go' Danielle McLaughlin,
author of The Art of Falling 'Wild and beautiful, a whole addictive
and breathlessly compelling world squeezed between these covers...
A magnificent novel from a writer who is soaring to the most
spectacular heights' Billy O'Callaghan, author of Life Sentences
'White City is a dark, hilarious and emotionally profound study of
the toxic effects of greed and entitlement. Also, a story
brilliantly and movingly told. Couldn't stop reading it. Will read
it again' Ed O'Loughlin, author of Not Untrue and Not Unkind '[A]
biting page-turner... Power's writing is both strong and savage'
John Walshe, The Business Post ''Funny, and gorgeously written, and
just relentlessly entertaining' Mark O'Connell, author of Notes
from an Apocalypse 'This is part thriller but mostly a look at what
it means to grow up... This novel is pleasing on so many levels,
both intellectually & emotionally... You'll laugh, you'll
cry... Read it, read it, read it' Claire Hennessy, author, editor
& publisher at Banshee Press 'The kind of novel that makes
writers jealous and readers cancel all their plans to finish it. As
a commentary on the classless contemporary upper class, it's
cutting and hilarious; as a portrait of the artist as a young man
waylaid by his membership in that class, it's profound,
unpretentious, unapologetically intelligent, and, again, really
hilarious' Lauren Oyler, author of Fake Accounts 'White City is
brilliant on the high-octane vacuity of Ireland's rentier class.
Power's trademark shimmering prose counterpoints a driving
narrative... Brilliant' Eoin McNamee, author of Resurrection Man
and The Blue Tango
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