An Embarrassment of Riches

'An Embarrassment of Riches'. This is excellent. Love the court room drama beginning then the weaving in of backstory. Believable characters, hilarious antics ( a few naughty words); can't wait to read on. Roisin's arrival at mammy's house will certainly put the cat among the pidgeons.
This would adapt well to the big screen. I have downloaded it on to my kindle so I can read in the comfort of my bed. It's a five star read. * * * * *

Well Done Mary

Humor so shiney it is brilliantine in a bloke's pomade! Here lies the author who wrote the visitor's guide for tourists aching for a view of authentic London/derry lifestyles. See the low-cut leopard print tops that the church girls wear! There is even a guide to the local lingo of the sophisticated locals. Her arse isn't afraid of using useful descriptions like "A woman on the wrong side of fifty." In North America, we call them Cougers, who like to teach twenty-something blokes a lesson on loving or two. She is "mutton dressed as a lamb." How sweet it is. I never thought I would see a lovable anti-Heroine who is charged with attempted manslaughter of a minor. With the mouth on the wanes anywhere these days, she should get a gold medal!

Gerald:
This is an hilarious, irreverent, rip-roaring, and grand broth of a book: A black comedy, set against a backdrop of turbulent Irish history, in turn of the 21st Century Northern Ireland, It concerns the outrageous ups-and-downs in the miserable lives of a disreputable working-class family in Derry City's tight-knit and violent Catholic ghetto, The Bogside: scene of 'Bloody Sunday,' and once a no-go area for even occupying British forces.

Skilfully plotted and superbly written, this is far more than a wonderful and compelling yarn with a riotous crew of vivid and recognizable characters, who mouth fast-paced and convincing "Derry-speak," dialogue, as they play out the unseemly results of a sudden influx of unearned money from a win on the Irish Lotto, by a member of a family of low-class money-grabbers. In a time of economic upheaval, when we are all aware that the powerful have allowed an unscrupulous few to plunder the futures of the rest of us, this is a well-timed cautionary tale explaining the "Politics of Envy." That is: how the dispossessed , uninvested in the status quo, can easily become so bitter and resentful that they feel entitled to demand or take what they want, or failing that, to gratitutously attack others, especially those who have what they covet, and wantonly destroy their possessions.

Several strands of plot are masterfully plaited together in this book, and all within a rollicking, and very Irish, format that keeps us all laughing. From the outset, when we are lulled with the guidebook vision of the warmth and friendliness of the locals we will find in Derry, only to be abruptly confronted with the shocking reality of a quote from "an indigenous person" threatening to stab us in the eye with a screwdriver, we know this won't be boring!

The main character is Ursula Barnett, who was forced to leave school at fifteen, to work in a shirt factory because her hard-pressed mother needed her keep. Though denied further education, she has still managed to escape the ghetto by marrying a 'yank' from Wisconsin, whose military career has allowed her to experience the world outside Derry. We learn that when husband,Jed, was sent to Vietnam, Ursula, fondly remembering Derry through completely rose-colored glasses, yielded to her yearning to return to the bosom of her loving family. This was, of course, a mistake, and when she and Jed win the Lotto, they find out that they are still a hate-fuelled bunch of violent, resentful, unjustly entitled, and covetous ingrates: who rival the fifteenth century Borgias in their ability to maintain a grudge and betray and intrigue against their own.

Fionnuala Flood, the manipulative wife of Ursula's drunken and easily-led brother, Paddy, is the archetypal wicked woman. In a hardscrabble society, where ' The men are hard, and the weemin harder" - Fionnuala is a vividly well-characterized and hardboiled matriarch, who is shown "inflicting her rage and desperation and unjust entitlement on the world." She is certainly as colorful as Brendan O'Carrol's, Agnes Browne, in his best seller "The Mammy." Fionnula, however, is not beloved by the neighbors, or even by her own predatory kids. Self-centered to the core, an embittered Fionnuala seethes with hatred and resentment, and rewards Ursula's misguided generosity, and seeking for love, with nothing but grief; finally undermining her until she no longer has any place in the family. Ursula is punished not only for aspiring to better, but for "how she made us all feel, staring down her nose at us after she paid off wer mortgage, and never shutting her mouth about it." Only then, does Ursula see that she's better off without the lot of them, and cleave again to Jed who has long been plotting to escape back to Wisconsin. In this context, I remembered that another Jed, Jed Clampett in the '60 TV series, showed a lot of insight when he 'loaded up the truck and moved to Beverley, Hills that is," after striking oil in his backyard!

There are wickedly hilarious scenes in this book that had me in stitches. When eight year-old Siofra, clearly another sociopath-in-the-making, if not already, embarks upon a campaign to get "the Maria Theresa gown, imported from Italy, with the Andromeda veil," to wear for the grand ceremony of her first holy communion, so that she can outdo her mate, Grainne, she exhibits a steely determination that rivals Rodrigo Borgia's manipulations to become Pope! The brass cheek she displays in getting the drug suppliers in the family McDaid to pony up the 600 quid for the frock stuns even them! When Fionnuala drags her to make her first confession in upscale St. Brigit's, each of them recites a hair-raising litany of transgressions that shocks even a priest who has been the confessor to the terrorists in the IRA! And the vision of Siofra puking into her sparkly handbag, tacky tiara-flashing, at the First Holy Communion Ceremony, after she and Eoin have sold 'wingers' to the, now overdosed, newest members of the church, is beyond price!

Great utility is made of the peripheral characters in the book. Jed, is used to give his perspective on Ursula's family. He has been married for 30 years, but in close-knit and claustrophobic Derry he is still regarded as "an outsider," and his best and only friend, Paddy, turns on him in an instant ,when money is at stake.
An American, though he was attracted to a fiesty younger Ursula, he has now had enough of her vicious and "misery-stricken family in that war-torn afterthought of a rain drenched town on the edge of a decaying British Empire.'

Through the viewpoint of the fickle pensioner, Mrs. Feeney: she, " with a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle," we also get a surprisingly sympathetic insight into how life has been in The Bogside, as we learn: "she hadn't suffered a lifetime of civil war, sons gunned down in their prime, to be victimized in the relative calm of the peace process. The Brit paratroopers had departed, and the need for senseless violence has gone, but that didn't mean it had departed.' It is this insight that helps us to understand why Fionnuala and her brood are so brutalized and burdened with a pain and hatred that has been stewing for generations. Mr O'Toole, the real and "Fenian" father of Dymphna's illegitimate 'nadger,' gives another sympathetic viewpoint on the hard-pressed people he sells groceries to, and along with the "Proddy" Rory, adds a personal perspective to the sectarian strife in London/Derry. The thoughts of the priests, the lawyer, and kind Pc. McLaughlin, are also used to soften the harshness evident in people who, nevertheless, are much enjoyed for their quick wit and ability to endure life on the margins.

The Catholic Church and the shadow of the IRA are a constant backdrop to the plot. Clearly, Fionnuala and her offspring start with no insight into their own intolerance, covetousness, and general lack of kindness. There are no social liberals in The Bogside, where it is more acceptable to commit GBH for the slightest offence, than to "be a nancy-boy.' But gradually, we see a glimmer of recognition that something has to change, in lesbian Moira, back from her bolthole in Malta, and in Dymphna, who has decided that the father of her baby will be the Protestant who is willing to marry her. Both of them realize that Fionnuala has no real concept of love, and that she just uses people. And when Eda's emigrated offspring return en masse, after decades of neglect, for her flashy funeral, we see that their overdone grief is really just sentimental pretense, all put on for show. Fionnuala, is also going to have to deal with this reality when, having been hospitalized with great fanfare, she awakes from her coma to find herself completely alone.

This is a wonderful break from the suffocating political correctness of life today. I adore it!
Backed. I want to buy copies.
Best wishes,
Maddie

“Bleached pigtails” made me laugh. It conjures up such a vivid image of a world of hapless dispossession. This is superb writing – comic but with a necessary underlying note of tenderness that brings us closer to the characters; writing that pulses with vitality despite the grim hopeless world it depicts. The detail is fabulous - bleach and rhubard and lotto and superstores and spaghetti hoops – like an itinerary of despair. Yes, this is great. Bloody funny, well crafted, tender and pumping with a compelling forward momentum.

I want you to take a moment to see any comment I've written on this site. I am forthright and uncompromising. So I want you to understand that I'm mean these words:

I love this book. I want to own it. I want to read it. I want to pass it to my friends. I want to discuss it over beers. I want to fight with my family (Irishmen to our teeth) when they tell me the Irish aren't exactly like this.

Because we are!

You have written a complete joy!

I like how you write. And I'm actually cursing you under my breath that you don't live in the states so that we can do a B&B (beer & bullsh*t) to discuss writing and characters and women and words.

You know how there are those levels of humor? Oh you know - we laugh at others / we laugh at ourselves? But I laughed at an entirely different level while I read you. I laughed with the true joy of reading the true. You've written the truth. And I know it because I've lived it. I can just hear my GrandMother Mary Maxine Fitzpatrick saying, "Oh for the good Christ, what the hell are you laughing at?" You wrote an echo.

Damn. I love this book. Come to Minnesota bro. I'll buy you a beer.

I'm going to slap this book on my bookshelf and it's not moving. I just can't imagine liking something more.

Mark R. Trost
"Post Marked."

Gerald Hansen's books are worth every minute it takes to read them. They are highly entertaining, gut-wrenchingly down to earth, purely Irish and a must read. The trilogy is a trip in itself! You will not be disappointed. - Kate Buchanan (Jenny's Rain & A Spring Rain)

I love the fun in this. I didnt think this was going to be my type of genre to read but I was wrong. I loved this and it made me laugh. I thought you wouldnt be able to get the flow with the Irish explanations, but you nailed it and I was so hooked into this it was unreal. Loved it and loved the whole concept behind it too. Well done.
Sean Connolly. British Arm on the Rampage. ~(B.A.O.R) Please consider me for a read or watch list wont you?? Many thanks. Sean

The language makes it hard for me to read. I did enjoy the first chapter that flowed easily.

Good job.

Abby

Hi Gerald,

I'm on Chapter 7 now of "An Embarrassment of Riches!" I thought I'd leave you some comments here - Dymphna has just found out that she is only 2 weeks pregnant and not the 6 weeks that she thought that she was. This makes her think that the father was not that Protestant boy after all, and that it could indeed be Mr. O'Toole from the Top-Yer-Trolley Deli-Mart. The mix-up it seems was due to a defective Pregnancy Test Kit...very hilarious!, I'll continue to read on!

Cynthia
Sharing Short Stories/Alecner

Still one of my favourites on this site. Fantastic writing.

Hello Gerald-

book- An embarrassment of Riches'

~Read the first few chapter and chunks more of this saga about life in Derry Northern Ireland in the 70s.
What can i say, only i could not do better then the extensive comment your got from expatMaddie, I endorse everything she said. It has to be one of the better books on this site and deserves a hight place in the rankings.

What Roddy Doyle's books did for Dublin inner city life, yours has done for Derry- in my opinion success is just around the corner for you and hopefully a film contract, he got one for the Snapper and any extract from your is well up to that standard--

Brilliant, fantastic, a laugh a minute, as i turned the pages in your gripping book, and i do love the accent, it's just spot on and adds to the flavour of the dialogue;
on my watch list and will read more- now to read your other book' hand in the till' is it?

i have pleasure in giving it my six stars and more if i could, good luck Gerald-

Tom Bye
book- from hugs to kisses'
glance at mine please, dublin in the 40s, a Huckleberry Finn type story, so the Americans tell me.

Great opening! The fluidness of the travel guide and then the coarseness of the local lingo, you just know you’re in for a laugh or two and you don’t disappoint. I only comment on books I like. I do point out errors if I see them or writing I think could be improved (in my opinion) but I saw neither of those here.
This is Irish humour at its best, bleakest, ironic and honest.
Favourite part was the description of Fionnuala through the guards eyes - simply hysterical. You have little clever touches throughout (eggplant hued bob). Fionnuala feeling sorry for the poor boys imprisoned in the prime of their life (they crippled a man!) The woman wearing cardigans (I don’t know why that is pathetically funny – it just is!) Flamin Jamie Oliver roasting pans – oh the things to be jealous of.
Only small niggle is the use of the Irish word wer for our repeatedly in the first chapter. Even though you mention it right at the start it kept stopping me in sentences.
So glad I saw this. Six stars :-)
Tammy

This is great. What a wild ride. Love the characters My favorite part- where you plunked the dictionary right in the middle of the chapter. It was so unexpected I laughed out loud. One comment - the beginning is great, and then, you step on your own joke with the definitions. I'd suggest taking it out - much funnier that way.

I've watch listed this for now, and given you a rare six stars.

Hope you'll check out Animal Cracker and consider backing - I'm getting close the desk.

In any case, thanks for the read!
Andi
Animal Cracker

Starred to high heaven. Helplessly funny, you can't get the words out quick enough.

Billie

Hi G.

Bought A E o R for my friend (her birthday was 2 weeks ago), cautioned her about the C word but she said that's ok as she works with an Irish woman in the bank and the F, C and B words come as standard.

This morning she phoned me to say how funny it is... we laughed our heads off for a full twenty minutes.

Mary

Fluctuation of fortune and misfortune picturised on Irish background proves that you are a close observer, not only of human life but also of human history. Fortune may be turned misfortune and vice versa. Religious conflict and distance between communities are integral part of not only the present but past life also. In your novel, writer in you lead me to these facts.

Joy J. Kaimaparamban
The Wildfire

Gerald,

I absolutely loved this. I hope you don't mind me saying that I thought a lot of Irvine Welsh whilst reading this, and that I mean that as a complement in the highest order. The pacing, description and dialogue as just first class. You do very well to let the characters engage in their native tongue without allowing your prose to be effected by it, in that the contrast really helps to highlight the personalities of the characters and the very distinct world they live in. I also liked the Derry-speak dictionary, as well as the blurbs that opened the chapter. All this with clean prose edge with sharp wit...you thoroughly deserve the six stars I'm giving (only the 2nd book I've given them to). BACKED as well. -cc

Brilliant! What a laugh!. They say money doesn't buy happiness but it sure makes being poor more fun! I loved it. Backed and on w/l.

Kate Grimes - LIZZIE -CUPPA TALES

Brilliant! What a laugh!. They say money doesn't buy happiness but it sure makes being poor more fun! I loved it. Backed and on w/l.

Kate Grimes - LIZZIE -CUPPA TALES

Brilliant! What a laugh!. They say money doesn't buy happiness but it sure makes being poor more fun! I loved it. Backed and on w/l.

Kate Grimes - LIZZIE -CUPPA TALES

Love this book! You have built the characters magnificently, each one being as colorful as the next while maintaining their individuality. The plot is comical and intriguing. Being from the South USA, I did have a bit of trouble understanding the dialect. It slowed the pace a bit, but also made the place more real to me. Good luck with your delicious book!

Debbie Martin
THE TIMID HEART

Hi Gerald - I remembered this story was funny and fascinating, but it's even better the second time around. You've crafted it so cleverly - from the two polar-opposite opening quotes, right through the definitions. Beneath the humor is a satisfying and rich tale of sudden wealth (which I think we all dream of - or did, until we met Ursula.) You've explored with great intelligence the family dynamics, and also the culture of Northern Ireland. This book will be published, I believe. Soon, I hope.

Lizzi
(Out of Sync)

This book is one I cannot praise enough, though with the new system I can give it, its deserved 6 gold stars. I have a copy at home and it had me laughing and crying and involved in its characters to the point I felt I had lost some friends when i finished it. I cannot recommend it enough. I am backing it for the 24+ needed for it to benefit. Power to you elbow, Gerald as you continue to forge your writing career. Will be back soon to read your next one, love Mary.

Of course - I have backed this before and remember really enjoying it. Can only leave it on for 1 day cos of HUGE watchlist! Good luck. Ceeds

Superb, Fionnulala and her family are certainly an embarrasment..Coulourful charachters who would sell their own souls all written with salt and pepper humour added to taste. I cant wait to read Hand in the Till

Sue
Knowing Liam Riley

Rough, hard hitting and amusing in a corrupt manner that reaches into the depths of black humour. Captures the ambience, created by the minds of the depraved, with vivid clarity. No mistaking the intent here. The authenticity of content infers that the author has first hand experience or has completed extensive research, which has contributed to a very readable work. Congratualations, nicely done.

Blimey! Love it. So much funny bugger stuff. If this doesn't get published, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Good luck with it - not that you need it. Ceeds. ps thanks for backing Joe's Nan.

Brilliantly funny! The descriptions of the not so hard working working- class is hilarious and sadly spot on! I loved it and want to read more.

Backed with pleasure.

Clare
A Policeman's Lot

So funny and so clever! Backing this with pleasure!!

some very funny dialogue here

i have had a few friends from that part of the world in the past and as i read i imagined their voices

matt

Hi Gerald, Well into "An Embarrassment of Riches," I'm impressed with the richness of the characterizations and the skill with which you handle the universal-author POV. The dictionary helps with the dialect, though it's mostly clear without it. I feel the tension mounting as the plot thickens, and each chapter adds something to propel us to the next. But I'll stop here for the time being and back the book before turning to "Hand in the Till." Best of luck with this masterpiece, Bill

Your flair for writing certainly shines though! This is a well-written novel with a lot of depth. As a fan of all things linguistc, I found the language side of things very interesting - the Derry-Speak Dictionary was a great addition. Although interesting and authentic, I did find the constant flow of dialect throughout the narrative made for quite a heavy read - a text needing quite a bit of concentration. But you have captured the dialogue well.

Hi Gerald ...

A really good rollicking read. Well written with a subtle touch of irony. Good powerful characters and great dialogue. Backed. Regards ... Duncan.

What a hoot. You're a master humor-ician. Still laughing as I click on "BACK."

Hi Gerald.
I loved this, in particular the dialogue.
A couple of little things: why did you feel you had to explain 'as quare as a bottle of chips' it may be a local derivation but there are many similar versions of this phrase in most English speaking regions. That aside I found the writing witty, charming and at the same time poignant.
I thought the 'Derry-Speak Dictionary' broke the flow of the chapter. why not just refer to it and move it to an end-note or index where it can easily be found for reference.
Happily backed
John G
'The Last Olympiad.'

Gerald, thank you for inviting me into your novel. I found it a delightful romp, very much in that ripe (overripe?) tradition of Britishly droll novels - the last I read being "Hemingway's Chair" - with a special Irish twist to it. You make fine use of the Derryspeak - I'm reminded of the Scouse in my own "All You Need", which you read. I will get to the other of your novels, but for a while, alas, reality intrudes on pleasure. Backed with gratitude.

Really full of life! Letting a lot of the tale be told through the dialogue of the characters is a good move, since it's pretty authentic. (Actually, in my experience, Ulster Catholics eff and blind a bit more than your characters do. Toning it down is probably a good idea.) I'm from East Antrim, so Derry speech isn't 100% familiar ground... but it's not that far away either.

Hi, I’d be more than happy to back your book if you’ll take the time to check out my work.
Thanks

Gefordson
Nothing You can do.

Very down-to-earth, authentic writing style as you used all old-fashioned vocab to make your story really look like happened long ago. Nice time flashing backward. This is the way I can't manage well. Wildy

Hi Gerald~!

This is a funny, compelling story! I like the premise of the story. Good narration and description. Keep up the good job. Backed :)

- Ches

I don't do tit for tat games, as you'll see if you read my comments on other books. But, thank the good lord for a book that doesn't bullshit on about its hero/ine "having to save the world" in its pitch. And actually does the Derry accent without being impenetrable on the page. (I'd put the Dictionary somewhere else than in the middle of a chapter, mind.) When I read chapter 1 I could tell you knew these people and the way they lived, and you could write the tale well.

Backing this (oh bugger, now I'll have to go and reoganise my shelf.)

I don't do tit for tat games, as you'll see if you read my comments on other books. But, thank the good lord for a book that doesn't bullshit on about its hero/ine "having to save the world" in its pitch. And actually does the Derry accent without being impenetrable on the page. (I'd put the Dictionary somewhere else than in the middle of a chapter, mind.) When I read chapter 1 I could tell you knew these people and the way they lived, and you could write the tale well.

Backing this (oh bugger, now I'll have to go and reoganise my shelf.)

Hello Gerald

"An Embarrassment of Riches" sounds like a hoot! I'm always amazed by how clever people come up with these zany plot ideas. I have it on my WL list.

Good luck with it--a given.
Gerry Burnie (Originally from Derry--five generations ago).
"Gerry Burnie Books" [www.gerryburniebooks.com]

Juno and the Paycock/Angela's Ashes meets The Commitments with a drop of The Departed ... rollicking fun, ugly-yet-real character development, and a cool twist to the classic "too much money too fast" plot. Ye're after me own heart, boyo - I didn't even need your glossary, but I'm glad you included it. :)

Thank you so much for backing my novel. I had a lot of fun with my Irish character, Mary.

Thanks for the awesome read ... now I'll be humming U2 the rest of the day and daydreaming about my own trip to the Emerald Isle next May ...

~ Meg, author of "Daniel's Garden"

Gerald,

An Embarassment of Riches, is brilliant! I've only had a chance to read a little, but I really want to read more. I just noticed that you already have this book published. Well I'm still going to back it. It is funny in so many ways. The characters are so realistic and well drawn, and the dialogue is really the icing on the cake, such a pleasure to read, you could actually hear them.

Hope sales figures are good.

BACKED.

Marilyn Rodwell

You have a fun book! Even reading your pitch made me laugh. I could feel your sense of humour through your writing. Your writing is clear and concise. Hope you do well!

Brilliant! There was something to enjoy in every line. Deserves its high spot Have backed Jaye Hill, The Fantasy Trip

Hilarious! backed, Amy.

I love the introduction, both the travel guide, the comment, and the comment's break down. Humor without effort - wonderful.

Something about the phrase "The whole ridiculous world had gone mad, and she and her handbag were expected to be answerable for everything." seems to really stick out. I have a feeling that, in its way, it sums up everything of plot and writing style, right there :)

Fionnuala is as unique and vibrantly characterized woman as any I've ever read. Great job with her - she practically jumps from the page!

You scatter in the meanings of phrases that might not be familiar really well and unobtrusively. It never seems to break the flow, which is great.

I'll be reading more chapters as soon as I get the time - great and backed for certain!

I love the introduction, both the travel guide, the comment, and the comment's break down. Humor without effort - wonderful.

Something about the phrase "The whole ridiculous world had gone mad, and she and her handbag were expected to be answerable for everything." seems to really stick out. I have a feeling that, in its way, it sums up everything of plot and writing style, right there :)

Fionnuala is as unique and vibrantly characterized woman as any I've ever read. Great job with her - she practically jumps from the page!

You scatter in the meanings of phrases that might not be familiar really well and unobtrusively. It never seems to break the flow, which is great.

I'll be reading more chapters as soon as I get the time - great and backed for certain!

I enjoyed the read. Had me laughing and wondering what was coming next.

Elizabeth Love

Gerald, An Embarassment of Riches, nicely written, Brilliant dialogue and derry speak. Only read a couple of chapters so far but will read more .

david
The Collector of Tales

Dear Gerald,

I only read the first chapter of Embarrassment of Riches and saw immediately what a superior book it is!

The graphic details of the courtroom and the jail visit drip with sardonic humor and grim reality --though perhaps a bit stretched -- and it holds together beautifully with characters who act true to their own lights, such as they are.

I might have gone on reading, but I promised to look at Hand in the Till.

I like your first book and believe it is rightfully on bookshelves at amazon already, and could easily go on the ed's desk here.

I'm backing it.

Ancient Reader

Backed Embarrassment of Riches. Original and funny. You are a talented writer, and it was a pleasure to read and back your work.
CC Brwon
Dark Side

An Embarrassment of Riches is a delightful read that treads the line between comedy and drama. Yes, the things that main character Ursula Barnett’s family puts her through are hilarious, but that would just be appreciating this book on the surface. On a deeper level, author Gerald Hansen has crafted a family drama that ranks right up there with the top reads in literary fiction. It would not be saying too much to state that I laughed and cried while reading this beautiful tale of the Emerald Isle.