Young Skins: Stories

A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree

Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Guardian First Book Award, and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature

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 singular new voice in contemporary fiction.

Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
Published: 03/03/2015
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780802123329


Award: Guardian First Book Award - Winner


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 10/01/2014 pg. 59
Library Journal 11/01/2014 pg. 78
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2015
Publishers Weekly 01/19/2015
Shelf Awareness 03/13/2015
New Yorker (The) 05/04/2015 pg. 70
Library Journal 10/01/2014