The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad: A Mostly Irish Farce

by Roger Boylan

The hapless inhabitants of Killoyle, Ireland, face all manner of chaos in this comic novel from an author “capable of spinning a fabulous yarn” (Minnesota Daily).   After local lush Mick McCreek gets into a car crash with a cross-dressing church sexton, he enlists the help of a lawyer, Tom O’Mallet. As it turns out, the lawyer’s real gig is selling missiles to an IRA splinter group, and he plans to use his clueless client as a patsy.   O’Mallet also hoodwinks Anil, an Indian waiter who has found himself the unlikely target of a manhunt. What Tom doesn’t know is that his lucrative weapons are destined for a massive terrorist attack on the Pint-Pulling Olympiad, and that Anil’s sexy cousin Rashmi—a sweatshop worker turned intelligence operative—is hot on the bombers’ trail.   With a wink and a nudge, Roger Boylan’s pyrotechnic prose brings to life Ireland at its manic extremes, proving the author a dazzling and distinctive talent in American fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Irish Literature

468 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2003

Reviews

[Brady McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not particularly satisfying

[Alice Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roger Boylan delivers a brilliantly absurd and uproarious satire in The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad. With sharp wit and a cast of delightfully eccentric characters, this "mostly Irish farce" takes readers on a madcap journey through small town pub culture.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sounds like it should have been a real hoot, but I had a hard time getting into it.