The Barrytown trilogy - Roddy Doyle

This volume brings together under one cover Roddy Doyle's three acclaimed novels about the Rabbite family from Dublin. "The Commitments" traces the rapid rise and even more rapid fall of Jimmy Rabbite Jr's unusual soul band. In "The Snapper", Sharon Rabbite's pregnancy sparks off intense speculation among her friends and family, but she is determined to reveal the identity of the father in her own time. "The Van", set during Ireland's 1990 World Cup attempt, follows the fortunes of Jimmy Sr and his friend Bimbo as they launch their travelling fish'n'chip shop on an unsuspecting Barrytown, learning much about themselves in the process.

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. His first novel,The Commitments,was published to great acclaim in 1987 and was made into a very successful film by Alan Parker.The Snapperwas published in 1990 and has also been made into a film, directed by Stephen Frears.The Vanwas shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize and made into a film also by Stephen Frears.Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha,which won the Booker Prize in 1993, was the largest-selling winner in the history of the prize and has been published in nineteen languages. His most recent novels areThe Woman Who Walked Into DoorsandA Star Called Henry.

"A charming, truthful and immensely funny story which leaves you gasping for more"
Sunday Times - on The Commitments

"A superb creation, exploding with cheerful chauvinism and black Celtic humour"
The Times - on The Snapper

"A novel which is often hilarious, always enthralling and - this is really the case - unputdownable"
The Times - on The Van