Skippy Dies is a fun, often hilarious and moving novel about adolescent boys (& female objects of desire) who attend a boarding school for rich kids in Ireland. It was published in 2010 by promising Irish writer Paul Murray. The protagonist, Daniel (Skippy) Juster, dies at the beginning of the book,and the story retraces the events eventually leading up to the death. Although colored with some dark reality, the book has a lot of heart and traces the lives of the boys, in particular: "troubled" Skippy, his computer-nerd roommate Rubrecht, skeptic Dennis, over-sexed Italian Mario, drug-addled Carl, and Skippy's love (infatuation) interest Lori as they stumble through adolescence and all that it entails. The other main character is Howard "The Coward", history teacher, who is no more enlightened about life (and esp. love) than his teenage students, and makes his own contribution to the plot. It's a wonderful book that balances humor, pathos and insights about life while avoiding sentimentalizing.
For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/06/skippy-dies-paul-murray
For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/06/skippy-dies-paul-murray
