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Designing Dev
Carl Hiaasen meets "The Quiet Man" in "Designing Dev," a madcap tale about love, politics, and cultural belonging.
The Celtic Tiger is roaring across Ireland and the country is going to hell in a hand basket. Office blocks and apartment buildings are springing up like weeds on every corner. Mercedes, Jaguars and Beemers crowd each new kilometer of EU-subsidized motorway. And bank executives and politicians are reveling in it all, indulging themselves like Saudi royalty. There’s only one solution: Bring back Eamon de Valera – the Abe Lincoln and George Washington of Irish historical lore – to restore the nation. So when an Irish-American look-alike by the name of Mike Doyle pops up in a Boston suburb, that’s precisely what ex-pat Brendan Quigney and his Friends For A Contented Eire set out to do, putting forward the reluctant Yank for president of Ireland.
Along the way, Mike and Friends attract the attention of the governing True Eire Party, whose officials decide that he's one candidate too many and soon devise various plans to flatten his unorthodox campaign.
In the U.S., Mick and Josie Doyle are drawn into the fray when a TV tabloid show – "Truth Patrol" – runs a feature on their son’s political ambitions in Ireland. Though they met innocently enough – long-haul trucker Mick Doyle picked up a hitch-hiking Josie Giarrizzo while driving cross-country – they’re portrayed as "a couple of crazy throwbacks to the swinging Sixties, with their very own Love Shack on wheels!"
The Doyle story proves to be a mixed blessing for maverick editor and journalist Aengus White. His current affairs journal, Quintessence magazine, is suffering from poor circulation and needs a fresh injection of cash and controversy to quicken its pulse. White strikes a bargain with True Eire that he soon comes to regret. The Party will bail out his financially-troubled magazine, but in exchange White must publish any and all stories – including the fraudulent "Truth Patrol" revelations – that will lead to True Eire's man Seanie Curtin getting elected.
When Mike and his campaign team get wind of these developments, the gloves come off. The climax comes at an open-air debate in the center of Dublin, which descends into comic chaos as Mike Doyle, Seanie Curtin, and Combined Forces of Good candidate Mary Ellen Corbett each state their case and face down respective charges of inexperience, incompetence, and previous nude modeling.
So strap yourself in and come along on a tour of Ireland that you won’t find in any travel brochure…
The Celtic Tiger is roaring across Ireland and the country is going to hell in a hand basket. Office blocks and apartment buildings are springing up like weeds on every corner. Mercedes, Jaguars and Beemers crowd each new kilometer of EU-subsidized motorway. And bank executives and politicians are reveling in it all, indulging themselves like Saudi royalty. There’s only one solution: Bring back Eamon de Valera – the Abe Lincoln and George Washington of Irish historical lore – to restore the nation. So when an Irish-American look-alike by the name of Mike Doyle pops up in a Boston suburb, that’s precisely what ex-pat Brendan Quigney and his Friends For A Contented Eire set out to do, putting forward the reluctant Yank for president of Ireland.
Along the way, Mike and Friends attract the attention of the governing True Eire Party, whose officials decide that he's one candidate too many and soon devise various plans to flatten his unorthodox campaign.
In the U.S., Mick and Josie Doyle are drawn into the fray when a TV tabloid show – "Truth Patrol" – runs a feature on their son’s political ambitions in Ireland. Though they met innocently enough – long-haul trucker Mick Doyle picked up a hitch-hiking Josie Giarrizzo while driving cross-country – they’re portrayed as "a couple of crazy throwbacks to the swinging Sixties, with their very own Love Shack on wheels!"
The Doyle story proves to be a mixed blessing for maverick editor and journalist Aengus White. His current affairs journal, Quintessence magazine, is suffering from poor circulation and needs a fresh injection of cash and controversy to quicken its pulse. White strikes a bargain with True Eire that he soon comes to regret. The Party will bail out his financially-troubled magazine, but in exchange White must publish any and all stories – including the fraudulent "Truth Patrol" revelations – that will lead to True Eire's man Seanie Curtin getting elected.
When Mike and his campaign team get wind of these developments, the gloves come off. The climax comes at an open-air debate in the center of Dublin, which descends into comic chaos as Mike Doyle, Seanie Curtin, and Combined Forces of Good candidate Mary Ellen Corbett each state their case and face down respective charges of inexperience, incompetence, and previous nude modeling.
So strap yourself in and come along on a tour of Ireland that you won’t find in any travel brochure…
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2013
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