Reviews
Praise for The Guts "Doyle's Jimmy Rabbitte reappears, dealing with cancer, mortality, and love. . .I was undone by the emotional clarity of the writing itself, and by the calm, but never static, way Doyle has of presenting a scene." - The New York Times Book Review "Doyle's dialogue and his depictions evoke the warmth and vigor of a complicated but joyful family life." - The New Yorker "The feat of The Guts is Doyle's ability to create in Jimmy a character who hangs together even while so many of his certainties have collapsed. And to get a few good jokes in as well." - The Washington Post " The Guts has plenty of soul. . .despite all the poverty and adversity and illness Doyle depicts here, he's written a novel filled with so much joyful love and life and song that it might picture this it might even have made Samuel Beckett smile." -Alan Cheuse, npr.org "[A] hilarious and tender sequel to The Commitments . . .Doyle's witty and lively ninth novel captures much of the fun of The Commitments , even as the Commitments themselves struggle with a notably more sobering world around them." - Publishers Weekly "It's rare to read about a man's midlife crisis. . .and burst out laughing. Yet acclaimed Irish author Doyle pulls it off. . .there are plenty of poignant moments among the laughs, too. . .this work is too good to miss." - Library Journal "Doyle expertly evokes the generational confusion over new technologies, the sentimentality of children growing up way too fast, and the sobering fear and anxiety of living with a potentially fatal disease all of this without being overly morbid or maudlin." - ALA Booklist "The novel is probably the most contemplative that Doyle has written as a meditation on the importance of family, it is at times unbearably moving…The characters are all so warm and funny and irritable, so brimming with rude life, that this novel about illness and death never manages to become morbid…reading The Guts is like catching up with old friends." - The Sunday Times (U.K.) "Remarkable, relevant and, surprisingly for a book that's ostensibly about cancer, joyful… The Guts is a book about a dogged search for meaning in the overwhelming face of mortality but funnier than that sounds. And softer, too." - The Times (U.K.) "Fantastic…In many ways, The Guts is about a man facing up to whether the best of his life and possibly all of his life is past…the book embraces the comedy of life as well as the tragedy, as is Doyle's wont." - The Sunday Independent (U.K.) "Hilarious and beautifully observed…In The Guts , Doyle turns once more to those themes he has always written about so singularly: love and the family…the dialogue, like music, carries the narrative compellingly forward." - The Irish Times, Praise for The Guts "Doyle's Jimmy Rabbitte reappears, dealing with cancer, mortality, and love. . .I was undone by the emotional clarity of the writing itself, and by the calm, but never static, way Doyle has of presenting a scene." - The New York Times Book Review "Doyle's dialogue and his depictions evoke the warmth and vigor of a complicated but joyful family life." - The New Yorker "[A] hilarious and tender sequel to The Commitments . . .Doyle's witty and lively ninth novel captures much of the fun of The Commitments , even as the Commitments themselves struggle with a notably more sobering world around them." - Publishers Weekly "It's rare to read about a man's midlife crisis. . .and burst out laughing. Yet acclaimed Irish author Doyle pulls it off. . .there are plenty of poignant moments among the laughs, too. . .this work is too good to miss." - Library Journal "Doyle expertly evokes the generational confusion over new technologies, the sentimentality of children growing up way too fast, and the sobering fear and anxiety of living with a potentially fatal disease all of this without being overly morbid or maudlin." - ALA Booklist "The novel is probably the most contemplative that Doyle has written as a meditation on the importance of family, it is at times unbearably moving…The characters are all so warm and funny and irritable, so brimming with rude life, that this novel about illness and death never manages to become morbid…reading The Guts is like catching up with old friends." - The Sunday Times (U.K.) "Remarkable, relevant and, surprisingly for a book that's ostensibly about cancer, joyful… The Guts is a book about a dogged search for meaning in the overwhelming face of mortality but funnier than that sounds. And softer, too." - The Times (U.K.) "Fantastic…In many ways, The Guts is about a man facing up to whether the best of his life and possibly all of his life is past…the book embraces the comedy of life as well as the tragedy, as is Doyle's wont." - The Sunday Independent (U.K.) "Hilarious and beautifully observed…In The Guts , Doyle turns once more to those themes he has always written about so singularly: love and the family…the dialogue, like music, carries the narrative compellingly forward." - The Irish Times, Praise for The Guts "[A] hilarious and tender sequel to The Commitments . . .Doyle's witty and lively ninth novel captures much of the fun of The Commitments , even as the Commitments themselves struggle with a notably more sobering world around them." - Publishers Weekly "It's rare to read about a man's midlife crisis. . .and burst out laughing. Yet acclaimed Irish author Doyle pulls it off. . .there are plenty of poignant moments among the laughs, too. . .this work is too good to miss." - Library Journal "Doyle expertly evokes the generational confusion over new technologies, the sentimentality of children growing up way too fast, and the sobering fear and anxiety of living with a potentially fatal disease all of this without being overly morbid or maudlin." - ALA Booklist "The novel is probably the most contemplative that Doyle has written as a meditation on the importance of family, it is at times unbearably moving…The characters are all so warm and funny and irritable, so brimming with rude life, that this novel about illness and death never manages to become morbid…reading The Guts is like catching up with old friends." - The Sunday Times (U.K.) "Remarkable, relevant and, surprisingly for a book that's ostensibly about cancer, joyful… The Guts is a book about a dogged search for meaning in the overwhelming face of mortality but funnier than that sounds. And softer, too." - The Times (U.K.) "Fantastic…In many ways, The Guts is about a man facing up to whether the best of his life and possibly all of his life is past…the book embraces the comedy of life as well as the tragedy, as is Doyle's wont." - The Sunday Independent (U.K.) "Hilarious and beautifully observed…In The Guts , Doyle turns once more to those themes he has always written about so singularly: love and the family…the dialogue, like music, carries the narrative compellingly forward." - The Irish Times
