John the Revelator - Paperback

by Peter Murphy (Author)

This is the story of John Devine -- stuck in a small town in the eerie landscape of Southeast Ireland, worried over by his single, chain-smoking, bible-quoting mother, Lily, and spied on by the "neighborly" Mrs. Nagle. When Jamey Corboy, a self-styled Rimbaudian boy wonder, arrives in town, John's life suddenly seems full of possibility. His loneliness dissipates. He is taken up by mischief and discovery, hiding in the world beyond as Lily's mysterious illness worsens. But Jamey and John's nose for trouble may be their undoing and soon John will be faced with a terrible moral dilemma. Joining the ranks of the great novels of friendship and betrayal -- A Separate Peace, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha -- John the Revelator grapples with the pull of the world and the hold of those we love. Suffused with family secrets, eerie imagery, black humor, and hypnotic prose, John the Revelator is a novel to fall in love with and an astounding debut.

Front Jacket

This is the story of John Devine stuck in a small town in the otherworldly landscape of Southeast Ireland, worried over by his single, chain-smoking, bible-quoting mother, Lily, and spied on by the "neighborly" Mrs. Nagle. When Jamey Corboy, a self-styled Rimbaudian boy wonder, arrives in town, John s life suddenly seems full of possibility. His loneliness dissipates. He is taken up by mischief and discovery, hiding in the world beyond as Lily s mysterious illness worsens. But Jamey and John s nose for trouble may be their undoing and soon John will be faced with a terrible moral dilemma.

Joining the ranks of the great novels of friendship and betrayal, John the Revelator grapples with the pull of the world and the hold of those we love. Suffused with family secrets, eerie imagery, black humor, and hypnotic prose, John the Revelator is a novel to fall in love with and an astounding debut.

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Back Jacket

Praise for John the Revelator

"Everything about John the Revelator excited me I couldn't wait to turn the page and keep on going. It was like reading for the first time, almost as if I'd never read a novel before." -- Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

"John the Revelator is the bastard of son of J.D. Salinger and Ted Hughes--ballsy, humorous, and brutally honest." - Sabina Murray, author of The Caprices

"An atmospheric tale filled with humour and energy, and a certain sense of mystery."--John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

"Murphy casts his debut novel like a blues noir, steeped in the music that has clearly inspired him. But this spook-filled Irish landscape, rendered with gouts of blood-red humour, is entirely his own." -- The Guardian

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Author Biography

He lives in the southeast of Ireland, in County Wexford, where he grew up. This is his first novel.