Young Skins

Publisher Marketing: Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award Winner of the Guardian First Book Award Winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature A stunning introduction to a singular new voice in contemporary fiction. Enter the small, rural town of Glanbeigh, a place whose fate took a downturn with the Celtic Tiger, a desolate spot where buffoonery and tension simmer and erupt, and booze-sodden boredom fills the corners of every pub and nightclub. Here, and in the towns beyond, the young live hard and wear the scars. Amongst them, there s jilted Jimmy, whose best friend Tug is the terror of the town and Jimmy s sole company in his search for the missing Clancy kid; Bat, a lovesick soul with a face like a bowl of mashed up spuds even before Nubbin Tansey s boot kicked it in; and Arm, a young and desperate criminal whose destiny is shaped when he and his partner, Dympna, fail to carry out a job. In each story, a local voice delineates the grittiness of post boom Irish society. These are unforgettable characters rendered through silence, humor, and violence. Told in Barrett s vibrant, distinctive prose, "Young Skins" is an accomplished and irreverent debut from a brilliant writer." Contributor Bio:  Barrett, Colin Colin Barrett was born in 1982 and grew up in County Mayo, Ireland. In 2009 he was awarded the Penguin Ireland Prize. His stories have appeared in Stinging Fly magazine, A Public Space, Five Dials, and the New Yorker. This is his first book. Contributor Bio:  Reynolds, Jack Professor Jack Reynolds is Chair of Philosophy at Deakin University, Australia. He has written four books: "Chronopathologies: The Politics of Time in Deleuze, Derrida, Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology" (2012), "Analytic Versus Continental: Arguments on the Methods and Value of Philosophy" (2010, with James Chase), "Merleau-Ponty and Derrida: Intertwining Embodiment and Alterity" (2004), and "Understanding Existentialism" (2006). He has also co-edited five collections: "Sartre: Key Concepts" (2013), "Continuum Companion to Existentialism" (2011), "Postanalytic and Metacontinental: Crossing Philosophical Divides" (2010), "Merleau-Ponty: Key Concepts" (2008) and "Understanding Derrida" (Continuum 2004).