Beatlebone

Books like this come along once in a generation * * New York Times * *
Superb . . . Beatlebone is a novel of necessary invention: profound, funny, hard to pin down * * Irish Times * *
Casually lyrical, formally inventive, funny and moving, it is a small wonder * * Sunday Times * *
Gloriously freewheeling . . . a tale of fame, freaks, bad liquor and bad weather * * Guardian * *
Beatlebone is a rule-breaking novel, a strange and fascinating look at the mystery of creative inspiration * * Financial Times * *
Maps the long-rumored territory between James Joyce and John Lennon with poetic precision and a wised-up but loving eye. It rewards the fan of both those artists yet stands on its own two (or maybe a shaggy dog's four) feet . . . Funny and sneakily informative . . . I read the final pages as slowly as I could in a vain attempt to keep the dream from being over -- MICHAEL CHABON
The most arresting and original writer to emerge from these islands in years -- IRVINE WELSH
A strange and brilliant experiment into showing your working. It's thematically dense yet supremely readable * * Metro * *

I think Kevin Barry is two kinds, if not three kinds, of a genius . . . wonderful storytelling . . . enormously cinematic

-- TOM SUTCLIFFE * * BBC RADIO 4 SATURDAY REVIEW * *
Beatlebone is as gloriously confounding and as wondrously welcome as a hatching hawk's egg in a Christmas cracker -- NIALL GRIFFITHS