The little hammer - John Kelly

'Would you believe me if I told you that I was only nine years of age when I killed him?' In a paint-splattered room, a young and successful Irish painter confronts his shocking and murderous past- a dark day on the beach at Bundoran, Co. Donegal, when he quietly dispatched a palaeontologist with his own geological hammer. His life is further disrupted by the beautiful Billy Maguire, an Ingrid Bergman lookalike who leads him all the way to Prague and involves him-and his beloved and devoutly paranoid grandmother-in yet another grievous crime. Struggling to keep reality and unreality apart, he wishes only to be taken seriously-as sinner and lover, artist and murderer.Featuring cameos from Elvis Presley, Shirley Temple and the Pope, the Little Hammer is a triumph of linguistic brio, dark imagination and wild wit from one of Ireland's most exciting new talents.