''Skippy Dies'' is a 2010 tragicomic novel by Paul Murray. It was shortlisted for the

2010 Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

, longlisted for the 2010

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

, and was a finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. The title character, Daniel "Skippy" Juster, dies during a donut-eating contest in the novel's opening scene. The rest of the novel explores the events leading up to Skippy's death, as well as the aftermath within the Seabrook community.

Development

The novel began as a short story, concerning a pupil and a teacher, but it quickly outgrew this as Murray created further characters. A later draft of the novel ran to a thousand pages, though Murray culled much of this before publication. The Seabrook College of the book is based on

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 18 ...

, Murray's old secondary school.

Reception

''Skippy Dies'' received almost universally positive reviews, with most reviewers commenting on the mixture of comic and tragic writing and the novel's large scope. The book was included in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

s list of the ten best books of 2010, ranked at number three. British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

was reported to be reading the book during his 2011 summer holidays in Spain. The book was also nominated for the 2010

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' an ...

for Comic Fiction and for the 2010

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

Irish Novel of the Year. In 2011, it was nominated for the 2012

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

."Three Irish novels among IMPAC nominees"
''RTÉ News''. 7 November 2011.

Selected reviews

*Patrick Ness.
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
. ''The Guardian''. February 6, 2010. Retrieved on May 5, 2011. *Dan Kois.

. ''New York Times''. September 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 5, 2011. *Michael Schaub.
'Skippy Dies in Dublin': A Funny Flashback Follows
. NPR. September 8, 2010. Retrieved on May 5, 2011.

References

{{reflist 2010 Irish novels Novels set in boarding schools Novels set in Dublin (city) Hamish Hamilton books Irish comedy novels