INTRODUCTION BY RODDY DOYLE 'He brought everyone down to earth, even the angels' LEONARD COHEN Charles Bukowski is one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. The autobiographical Ham on Rye is widely considered his finest novel. A classic of American literature, it offers powerful insight into his youth through the prism of his alter-ego Henry Chinaski, who grew up to be the legendary Hank Chinaski of Post Office and Factotum.

At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is finally living her life.

A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside.

That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind.

Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, they find themselves embracing the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other.

York Notes offer an exciting and fresh approach to the study of literature. The easy-to-use guides aim to provide a better understanding and appreciation of each text, encouraging students to form their own ideas and opinions. This makes study more enjoyable and leads to exam success. York Notes will also be of interest to the general reader, as they cover the widest range of popular literature titles. Key Features: How to study the text - Author and historical background - General and detailed summaries - Commentary on themes, structure, characters, language and style - Glossaries - Test questions and issues to consider - Essay-writing advice - Cultural connections - Literary terms - Illustrations - Colour design. General Editors: John Polley - Senior GCSE Examiner Head of English, Harrow Way Community School, Andover; Martin Gray - Head of Literary Studies, University of Luton.

A novel of mothers lost and found, "Wilderness" is part roaring adventure, part family drama - with a charm that's all Roddy Doyle's. While Tom and Johnny are on a husky safari in Finland, their half-sister Grainne stays behind to face the mother who abandoned her. But Tom and Johnny are too caught up in their adventure to think of home - until they find themselves lost in the snow, in a desperate struggle for survival...

Gloriously silly dog comedy from Booker prize winner and bestseller Roddy Doyle. It's Christmas eve and Rudolph's got the flu! Jimmy and Robbie Mack are so desperate for Christmas that they've left twenty-seven sandwiches out for Santa. But Rudolf is off sick and Santa's grounded the sleigh - with all the presents. Will the big day be cancelled? Or can Rover the wonder-dog come to the rescue? Illustrated with fun drawings throughout Look out for more cheeky runaway comedies starring the Mack family and Rover the wonder-dog: The Giggler Treatment and The Meanwhile Adventures. Hilarious story that makes the perfect for Christmas!

Roddy Doyle's 'brilliant' Brilliant is a wonderful, heartwarming middle grade tale of friendship and family. Gloria and Rayzer must save their Uncle Ben. The black dog has got him. At least, that's what they heard their granny say. And she says it's taken Dublin's funny bone too. As Uncle Ben's Dublin business fails, it's clear to Gloria and Rayzer that something is wrong. He just isn't his usual cheerful self. Gathering all their courage the children set out on a midnight quest to hunt down the Black Dog and chase it away. Gloria and Rayzer are really brave, but the black dog is really scary - and soon they realize that they can't fight it alone. Before long loads of other children are searching for it too, because the Black Dog is hounding lots of Dublin's adults. Together - and with the help of magical animals, birds and rodents - the children manage to corner the Black Dog . . . but will they have the courage and cleverness to destroy the frightening creature?

Gloriously silly comedy from Booker prize winner and bestseller Roddy Doyle. If adults are mean to children, they get the Giggler Treatment. It's smelly. It's squishy. And it sticks to your shoe. But sometimes, just sometimes, the Gigglers make a mistake... Can Robbie, Kayla, Jimmy and Rover the dog come to Mr Mack's rescue before the poo hits the shoe? Look out for more cheeky runaway comedies starring the Mack family and Rover the wonder-dog: ROVER SAVES CHRISTMAS (9781407139739) and THE MEANWHILE ADVENTURES (9781407139746).

Rover, canine star of The Giggler Treatment, Rover Saves Christmas and The Meanwhile Adventures is back! The BFB (Big Fat Baby) is missing! Can Rover the wonder dog and his little nephew Messi (who is actually very tidy) track her down? While Rover and co. are hot on the trail of the BFB, via Granny Mack's backpack, the post lady's basket and a plane bound for Africa, it looks like the Gigglers are about to run out of poo . . . And without an urgent delivery from Rover, how will they be able to give the Giggler Treatment to grumpy adults and help kids all over the country? In Rover and the Big Fat Baby, Rover returns for another adventure in this bestselling illustrated series by Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle.

'A masterpiece ... thoughtful and self-mocking, insightful and funny' THE TIMES 'He's scarily extreme, dangerously provocative, oxy-acetylene forthright ... and hugely entertaining' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Searingly honest' THE SUN 'A thoroughly entertaining rampage' Matt Dickinson, THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR No. 1 bestselling memoir of Roy Keane, former captain of Manchester United and Ireland - co-written with Man Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle. In a stunning collaboration with Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle, Roy Keane gives a brutally honest account of his last days as a player, the highs and lows of his managerial career, and his life as an outspoken ITV pundit. 'Roy Keane's book is a masterpiece . . . It may well be the finest, most incisive deconstruction of football management that the game has ever produced' Mail on Sunday 'A genuine pleasure . . . His thoughts on his players are humane, interesting, candid and never less than believable' The Times 'The best things are the small things: regretting joining Ipswich when he discovered the training kit was blue; refusing to sign Robbie Savage because his answerphone message was rubbish; being appalled that his side had listened to an Abba song before playing football' Evening Standard 'The book is brilliantly constructed, rattling along at breakneck speed . . . full of self-deprecation . . . a ruthless self-examination' Daily Telegraph

Tá Danny Ó Murchú ag dul le bualadh lena dheartháir Jimmy. Ní fhaca siad a chéile le níos mó ná fiche bliain. Ar an mbealach chuig an gcruinniú, is cuimhin le Danny na tréimhsí maithe agus na drochthréimhsí, an spraoi agus na troideanna – agus an t-achrann mór amháin a scar iad. An dtroidfidh siad arís nó an mbeidh siad ina gcairde mar ba ghnáth leo a bheith? Níl a fhios ag Danny. Danny Murphy is going to meet his brother, Jimmy. They haven't seen each other in over twenty years. On the way to the meeting, Danny remembers the good times and the bad times, the fun and the fights - and the one big row that drove them apart. Will they fight again or will they become the friends they used to be? Danny doesn't know.

Mr Mack's inventing career has got off to a bad start - he's been arrested! It's up to Jimmy, Robbie, Kayla and Rover the wonder-dog to: - Rescue Mr Mack from prison - Avoid the orphan catchers - Save the world from an army of stroppy slugs Will they succeed? There's only one way to find out.

With contributions by: William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Robert Macfarlane, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Chigozie Obioma, Michael Ondaatje, David Pilling, Max Porter, Philip Pullman, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, S.F.Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood and Markus Zusak 'This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...' So begins the essay by Robert Macfarlane that inspired this collection. In this cornucopia of an anthology, you will find essays by some of the world's most beloved novelists, nonfiction writers, essayists and poets. 'You will see books taking flight in flocks, migrating around the world, landing in people's hearts and changing them for a day or a year or a lifetime. 'You will see books sparking wonder or anger; throwing open windows into other languages, other cultures, other minds; causing people to fall in love or to fight for what is right. 'And more than anything, over and over again, you will see books and words being given, received and read - and in turn prompting further generosity.' Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of global literacy non-profit, Room to Read, The Gifts of Reading forms inspiring, unforgettable, irresistible proof of the power and necessity of books and reading. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane Curated by Jennie Orchard

Roddy Doyle's Booker Prize-winning novel describes the world of ten-year-old Paddy Clarke, growing up in Barrytown, north Dublin. From fun and adventure on the streets, boredom in the classroom to increasing isolation at home, "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" is the story of a boy who sees everything but understands less and less.

Two men meet for a pint in a Dublin pub... In 2012, Roddy Doyle showed us the world anew: through the back-and-forth of two Dublin pub-dwellers. They chewed the fat, set the world to rights, slagged each other unmercifully. And along the way, they chased the ebb and flow and stupidity of the year right to the bottom of their pints. Today, they're still at it - even over Zoom, if needs be. Collected for the first time, here is almost a decade's worth of elections and referendums, births and deaths, football, financial crashes, pandemics and the philosophical questions of life, as told through the wit and warmth of Roddy Doyle's comic genius. Includes: Two Pints, Two More Pints, Two for the Road - and, for the first time in print, Two Pints: The Play and The Zoom Pints

An historical novel like none before it, A Star Called Henry marks a new chapter in Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle's writing. It is a vastly more ambitious book than any he has previously written. A subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism, at its centre a passionate love story, this new novel is a triumphant work of fiction.
Born in the slums of Dublin in 1902, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he's out robbing, begging, charming, often cold, always hungry, but a prince of the streets. At fourteen, already six foot two, Henry's in the General Post Office on Easter Monday 1916, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, fighting for freedom. A year later he's ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian, and, soon, a killer. With his father's wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a republican legend - one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike, a lover.

"From the Hardcover edition.

'A profound examination of friendship, romantic confusion and mortality' John Boyne One summer's evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be. As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them - the pubs, the parties, the broken hearts and bungled affairs - the men find themselves face-to-face with the realities of friendship.

Dave, Pat and Ben have been best friends since they were kids. They do everything together, and they all love Liverpool FC. On a trip to see their favourite team in action, they have a few too many drinks before the match. But when it is time to leave for Anfield, Ben is nowhere to be found.

As a small boy at Joe Gargery's forge, Pip meets two people who will affect his whole life - an escaped convict he is forced to help, and the eccentric Miss Haversham, whose beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella young Pip adores. But when a secret benefactor pays for him to go to London to become a gentleman, Pip never dreams he will meet the dreadful Magwitch again, nor just how wrong his expectations are.

From the Booker Prize winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and The Commitments: the story of an ordinary woman whose extraordinary character will stay with you long after reading. 'He loved me and he beat me. I loved him and I took it. It's as simple as that' Paula Spencer is thirty-nine, the mother of four and learning to live without Charlo, her violent, abusive husband. Paula's started drinking more and dreaming more, taking herself back to her contented childhood and audacious teenage years. Everything was better then, not least the music, the soundtrack to her romance with Charlo. As the past floats by and mingles with the present Paula Spencer finds herself coming alive, in all her vulnerability and her strength. 'Roddy Doyle's unsparing examination of a brutal marriage transcends the boundaries of class and nationhood' The Times

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 1993 Paddy Clarke is ten years old. Paddy Clarke lights fires. Paddy Clarke's name is written in wet cement all over Barrytown. Paddy Clarke's heroes are Father Damien (and the lepers), Geronimo and George Best. Paddy Clarke knows the exact moment to knock a dead scab from his knee. Paddy Clarke hates his brother Francis because that's the rule. Paddy Clarke loves his Ma and Da, but it seems like they don't love each other, and Paddy wants to understand, but can't. See also: Cal by Bernard MacLaverty

Love and marriage, children and family, death and grief. Life touches everyone the same, but living under lockdown? It changes us alone. A man abroad wanders the stag-and-hen-strewn streets of Newcastle, as news of the virus at home asks him to question his next move. An exhausted nurse struggles to let go, having lost a much-loved patient in isolation. A middle-aged son, barred from his mother's funeral, wakes to an oncoming hangover of regret. Told with Doyle's signature warmth, wit and extraordinary eye for the richness that underpins the quiet of our lives, Life Without Children cuts to the heart of how we are all navigating loss, loneliness and the shifting of history underneath our feet. 'Life Without Children is boldly exhilarating, with its revelations of quiet love and the sheer charm of the characters' voices' Sunday Times 'Quietly devastating...shivers with emotion' Financial Times 'In the stripping away of everyday anxieties, the virus reveals what matters most, those qualities that are always at the heart of Doyle's fiction: love and connection' Observer 'Moving...and beautiful' Daily Mail

Following on "Two Pints," another hilarious book on everything that matters from the brilliant Roddy Doyle.
Two men meet for a pint -- or two -- in a Dublin pub. They chew the fat, set the world to rights, curse the ref, say a last farewell. In this second collection of delicious comic dialogues Doyle's drinkers ponder:
- a topless Kate Middleton
- Barack and Michelle Obama
- David Beckham ("Would you tattoo your kids' names on the back of your neck?" "They wouldn't fit.")
- Jimmy Savile ("a gobshite")
- the financial crisis (again)
- abortion (again)
- and horsemeat in your burger...
Once again, those we have lost troop through their thoughts -- Lou Reed, Seamus Heaney, Reg Presley, Nelson Mandella, Phil Everly, Margaret Thatcher, Shirley Temple -- and they still have that unerring ability to ask the really fundamental questions like "Would you take penalty points for your missis?"

"A hilarious and hugely affectionate novel." --"Independent on Sunday"
Jimmy Rabbitte is unemployed and rapidly running out of money. His best friend Bimbo has been made redundant at the company where he has worked for many years. The two old friends are out of luck and out of options. That is, until Bimbo finds a dilapidated 'chipper van' and the pair decide to go into business. By the bestselling author of "The Commitments" and "The Snapper, The Van" is a tender tale of male friendship, swimming in grease and stained with ketchup.

Great Expectations is one of the best-loved stories of all time, reissued in Puffin Classics, bringing classic literature to each new generation.

As a small boy at Joe Gargery's forge, Pip meets two people who will affect his whole life - an escaped convict he is forced to help, and the eccentric Miss Haversham, whose beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella young Pip adores. But when a secret benefactor pays for him to go to London to become a gentleman, Pip never dreams he will meet the dreadful Magwitch again, nor just how wrong his expectations are.

This funky, rude, unpretentious first novel traces the short, funny, and furious career of a group of working-class Irish kids who form a band, The Commitments. Their mission: to bring soul to Dublin!