The Guts
-
-
4.3 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
A triumphant return to the characters of Booker Prize-winning writer Roddy Doyle's breakout first novel, The Commitments, now older, wiser, up against cancer and midlife.
Jimmy Rabbitte is back. The man who invented The Commitments back in the 1980s is now 47, with a loving wife, 4 kids... and bowel cancer. He isn't dying, he thinks, but he might be.
Jimmy still loves his music, and he still loves to hustle—his new thing is finding old bands and then finding the people who loved them enough to pay money online for their resurrected singles and albums. On his path through Dublin, between chemo and work, he meets two of the Commitments--Outspan Foster, whose own illness is probably terminal, and Imelda Quirk, still as gorgeous as ever. He is reunited with his long-lost brother, Les, and learns to play the trumpet...
This warm, funny novel is about friendship and family, about facing death and opting for life. It climaxes in one of the great passages in Roddy Doyle's fiction: four middle-aged men at Ireland's hottest rock festival watching Jimmy's son's band, Moanin' at Midnight, pretending to be Bulgarian and playing a song called "I'm Goin' to Hell" that apparently hasn't been heard since 1932... Why? You'll have to read The Guts to find out.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jimmy Rabbitte, the former manager of Ireland’s most dysfunctional soul band, has done well for himself. In Roddy Doyle’s new novel—a follow-up to 1987’s The Commitments, which inspired a rollicking movie adaptation—Rabbitte is a happy family man and a successful entrepreneur who gives aging Celtic rockers a second chance at fame. But life is about to deal Rabbitte a serious blow, and only time will tell if he himself will get his own second chance. Doyle’s bighearted novel will charm fans of his previous books and those who are reading his fiction for the first time. The Guts showcases the Irish author's formidable talent for writing sharp, funny, and beautifully authentic dialogue and creating characters who are genuine, lovable, and full of love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sequel to Doyle's The Commitments finds Jimmy Rabbitte approaching 50 and facing all the standard challenges of middle age, with four kids and a wife. However, when Rabbitte is diagnosed with cancer, he is sent down a path of physical and mental recovery as he reconnects with his band members, his family, and himself. Narrator Kinlan's performance makes this audiobook more enjoyable than the print edition. He reads in a strong Irish accent throughout, especially when characters are speaking, making this audio edition colorful and engaging. Kinlan's voice also has a weariness to it that capture's Rabbitte's character. Additionally, he constructs distinct and believable voices for the cast of characters. A Viking hardcover.
