PAUL MURRAY was born in 1975. He studied English literature it Trinity College, Dublin, and took a master's degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. A former bookseller, Murray lives in Dublin. An Evening of Long Goodbyes, his first novel, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize, and earned Murray a nomination for the Kerry Irish Fiction Award.

"Paul Murray manages to fit a brilliant social novel in the small spaces of a farce, without ever losing his lightness of touch or his sense of humor. The result is something absolutely unique. Murray starts with Wodehouse (and does him proud), but ends somewhere entirely his own-somewhere very, very funny and surprisingly touching. I really love this book."
-Arthur Phillips, bestselling author of Prague

"A lyrical, satirical tour de force, a huge, hilarious elegy. A surreal and very funny festival of truths, fictions, luck, and love. How can this be a first novel? A triumph."
-Ali Smith, Booker Prize finalist and author of Hotel World

"One of the most entertaining and laugh-out-loud Irish yarns of recent years."
-Irish Independent

"The plot scuttles along with Wodehouse-like delirium. . . . Murray's clearly having fun, but beneath the bouncy tone he manages to weave real depth into the characters' relationships."
-Time Out (London)

"A hilarious, rich and satisfying novel."
-The Times Literary Supplement

"[A] comedy of the highest caliber."
-The Sunday Tribune (Ireland)

Publisher: Random House Trade

Pub date: 2005-09-13

Length: 448 pages