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For The Good Times

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( 1,073 ratings, 118 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
For The Good Times by David Keenan is a gritty and surreal tale set in Belfast during the Troubles. The story follows a group of disaffected young men enchanted by pulp fiction who become involved in the violent world of the IRA. It's a complex examination of friendship, ideology, and the destructive allure of rebellion.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy exploring the complexities of friendship and loyalty set against a backdrop of political turmoil in Northern Ireland. With a combination of dark humour and poignant storytelling, it delves deep into the turbulent lives of its characters, capturing both the chaos of the era and the bonds that bind people together.

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Award-winning author David Keenan's second novel plunges the reader into the dark night of Belfast in the 1970s: an era of military terror and sectarian violence, of occult visions and religious intensity.

Award-winning author David Keenan's second novel plunges the reader into the dark night of Belfast in the 1970s: an era of military terror and sectarian violence, of occult visions and religious intensity.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize

Belfast, 1970s: Sammy and his three friends live in an impoverished area of the city that has become the epicentre of a country seemingly intent on cannibalising itself. They love sharp clothes, a good drink, and the songs of Perry Como, whose commitment to clean living holds up a dissonant mirror to their own attempts to rise above their circumstances.

They dream of a Free State, and their methods for achieving this are uncompromising. But For the Good Times is not just a novel about the IRA. It is about the heartbreak and devastation that commitment to 'the cause' can bring; of violence and betrayal, breakdown and rebirth.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571340521

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 January 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 285g

Pages: 368

About the Author

David Keenan grew up in Airdrie in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is the author of England's Hidden Reverse and a senior critic at The Wire. His debut novel, This Is Memorial Device, was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn and Collyer Bristow Prizes, and was a Book of the Month for Waterstones, Rough Trade and Caught by the River.

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