Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade
 | |
| Author | Paul Howard |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Alan Clarke |
| Cover artist | Alan Clarke |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ross O'Carroll-Kelly |
| Genre | Comic novel, satire |
| Publisher | Penguin Books |
Publication date | October 2006[1] |
| Publication place | Republic of Ireland |
| 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 |
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]
Title
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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]
References
[edit]- ^ "Rich pickings for readers on dark evenings". Independent.ie. 2 September 2006.
- ^ Davenport, Fionn; O'Carroll, Oda (1 September 2007). Dublin encounter. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781740598293 – via Google Books.
- ^ Blackman, John (15 February 2012). Best of Aussie Slang. Momentum. ISBN 9781743340202 – via Google Books.
- ^ Deiss, Richard (7 August 2013). The Cathedral of the Winged Wheel and the Sugarbeet Station: Trivia and Anecdotes on 222 Railway Stations in Europe. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 9783848253562 – via Google Books.
- ^ "21 euphemisms that readers grew up with". BBC News. 18 May 2013.
- ^ "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. December 2012.
- ^ Maher, Eamon; O'Brien, Eugene (4 September 2014). From Prosperity to Austerity: A Socio-Cultural Critique of the Celtic Tiger and Its Aftermath. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719091681 – 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. 3 February 2007.
- ^ "When fiction lite lays the golden egg". Independent.ie. 11 February 2007.
- ^ 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. "Northside, southside, comrades all: when Ross O'Carroll Kelly met Jacques Derrida". The Irish Times.