October 15, 2003
Leitrim Man wins Booker
They may not have traffic lights yet but they do have a Booker prize winner. Okay okay, he just lives there, but it still counts. Peter Finlay is from Oz (so we can claim him anyway) and seems like a colourful character. According to the Guardian,
In his 42 years he has managed to get himself shot by a neighbour in Mexico City, work up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars, cultivate drug and gambling addictions and leave behind a trail of wronged women, despite having to have his face reconstructed by surgeons after an horrific car crash. In between, he has managed unsuccessful careers as a film-maker, treasure-hunter, smuggler and graphic artist.
He won't stand out in Leitrim
Posted by Monasette at October 15, 2003 11:15 PM
He sounds a real rotter the way I look at the world. And I am not so sure he is from Australia. About the only thing that I am prepared to concede is that he was born in Australia. From what I have read thus far, I don't think I will bother with his novel. Possibly makes me a smidge narrow-minded.
Posted by: Julie at October 16, 2003 02:53 PMHe can't be any worse than Michel Houellebecq who was living in Galway for a while. He wrote Atomised, which was basically a yarn of admittedly hilarious mysogeny with a bit of psychobabble sprinkled in to make it seem like a serious novel. It won tons of awards and he's gone on to insult the Muslim world with his latest book.
/John
Posted by: John at October 19, 2003 07:00 PM