The Van

Roddy Doyle. Penguin Books, $14 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-14-017191-4

This final novel of Doyle's trilogy about the working-class Rabbitte family of Dublin (following The Commitments and The Snapper ) demonstrates a brash originality and humor that are both uniquely Irish and shrewdly universal. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. (Aug.)

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