''Breakfast on Pluto'' is a 1998 novel by Patrick McCabe. The book was shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize, and was adapted for the screen by McCabe and

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian ...

; Jordan directed the 2005 film. The author derived the novel's title from the 1969 hit record ''Breakfast On Pluto'' by

Don Partridge Donald Eric Partridge (27 October 1941 – 21 September 2010)Report of death< ...

Plot summary

Set in 1960s to 1970s, the novel tells of Patrick "Pussy" Braden's escape from the fictional Irish town of Tyreelin and a drunk

foster mother Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family me ...

, to find herself and the biological mother who gave her away. Bad luck surrounds her until she finds temporary contentment with a married

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who acts as a sugar daddy. The latter is killed by either the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

or the Ulster Defence Volunteers, leaving Braden alone once again. She moves to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, becomes a prostitute in Piccadilly Circus, and later is arrested on suspicion of an IRA bombing, only to be released a few days later. She later embarks on a search to find her mother.

Film adaptation

Director

's 2005 film adaptation of the same name starred

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...

in the central role. In the film, the main character is called "Kitten", not "Pussy", and there are other significant differences between the two versions of the characters, a central one being that the hypersexual Pussy is depicted explicitly as having sex with many male and female characters throughout the novel, while on screen Kitten is not shown even kissing another character on the lips. Pussy's politician lover in the novel becomes a glam rock musician played by

Gavin Friday Gavin Friday (born Fionán Martin Hanvey, 8 October 1959) is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter, best known as a founding member of the post-punk group The Virgin Prunes. Early life Friday was born in Dublin and attend ...

with whom Kitten may or may not have had a sexual relationship, and Pussy's lover Bertie Wooster becomes magician Bertie Vaughan ( Stephen Rea), with whom Kitten has an unrequited flirtation.

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

plays the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

that Braden believes is her biological father, a character renamed Father Liam, although a number of reviews erroneously call him Father Bernard, as in the book. Cillian Murphy won an

IFTA Award The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

(2007) for Best

Actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and was nominated for Golden Globe (2006) as Best Actor in Musical or Comedy for his performance. Patrick McCabe and Neil Jordan won the IFTA for Best Script, and Jordan also won Best Director.

References

1998 Irish novels Bisexuality-related fiction English-language novels Irish novels adapted into films Irish LGBT novels Novels by Patrick McCabe (novelist) Novels set in the 1960s Novels set in the 1970s Novels with transgender themes Picador (imprint) books 1990s LGBT novels {{1990s-LGBT-novel-stub de:Breakfast on Pluto ko:플루토에서 아침을 ja:プルートで朝食を