Laff
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd
Published:2nd Feb '04
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
John, a teenager, struggles with loneliness and alienation in Ferguslie Park, a rough housing scheme in 1950's Scotland. At school he makes friends with Laff, a Ferguslie boy who shares his dream of escape. Their friendship becomes a fortress against the mockery they face at school and the menace of 'Feegie' - and their dreams are only heightened when rock'n roll, jukeboxes and Teddy Boys erupt like a splash of technicolour into their monochrome lives. They yearn for sex, dream of romance, discover jealousy,get into fights... When tragedy intervenes, John is in danger of 'settling for less' - giving up on their youthful dream. But Laff's influence persists...
'Boyle's memories are marked with fondness rather than sentimentality...with a sad twist in the tale guaranteed to grab you' * The Scotsman *
'All the moving, tentative quality of male friendship is caught in flight. The period detail is exact, the ear for dialogue deadly' * Dubliner Magazine *
'The significance of this friendship distinguishes Boyle's memoir from others...Far less self-pitying than Angela's Ashes' * Glasgow Herald *
'Deftly chronicles a 1950s Catholic childhood. Particularly well drawn is the intensity of that first special friendship which one can never fully leave behind' * Sunday Tribune *
ISBN: 9780552770798
Dimensions: 198mm x 127mm x 20mm
Weight: 242g
352 pages