Personally, the age of 14 was, for me, awful. I give Murray points for good writing and disturbing accuracy, but the last thing I want to do is relive those days. Skippy heaving in class was as stomach churning as the tone, tenor and theme. I gave up. I couldn't take it any more. Normally, I give only one star if I put it aside. This time, I feel bad about not giving it 4 or 5 for evoking those terrible memories so handily.

This book is not good. I do not consider myself a conservative person, and generally have no complaints regarding content of books. Unfortunately after 4 hours of going nowhere, and then hearing various Simpsons characters having sex with each other, I had to give up on this title. Not worth the credit. It is interesting to see how few reviews it is getting given that is has been a best seller. There are a lot more quality titles available than this trash.

I've given up after listening about an hour into Part 2. I rarely abandon my audio books, but I'm just bored (and there are 12 more hours to go). I can't believe that this might have won a Man Booker. Perhaps it's just that I can't work up any interest in the behavior and feelings of Irish teenage boys, but the adults don't interest me either. Given the reviews of the book, I would have thought that the author's skill would have carried me beyond these basic concerns, but it hasn't.

I listened to every word of this book Found some of the historical information interesting, but frankly I didn't laugh at anything. Guess I grew up in a kinder/gentler world. I would hate to think all teenagers and all private school administrators and teachers are as bad as all these characters portray them. I must see the changes in readers voices made the listening bareable.

I am a few hours into the book and still haven't found a character in the book that I care about. Maybe I need to listen more, but I don't think I'm strong enough.

Let me get this straight we have 14 year old boys in a Catholic boarding school next to a girl???s Catholic boarding school bullying and stealing drugs then selling them to 14 year old girls for sexual favors and with date rape motives. Not to mention the graphic detailing of porn sites no one would want to ever get caught visiting. All of this under the guise of that???s what 14 year old kids with raging hormones are thinking and doing. This is not even a fun book to listen to.

Downloading this book taught me that I need to really pay attention to other reviews rather than simply assuming that it's great because it's appearing on the best sellers list. I consider myself far from a prude but this book's subject matter and supposed humor of disgusting behavior in the 1st section download made me decide to not waste my time on downloading the add'l sections. I'm extremely disappointed since I had downloaded the book via the humor section of Audible and was looking for a good laugh. There were a few great sections but the content in many of the sections definitely took that feel good from laughter feeling away immediately.

I look so forward to a book narrated by Irishmen. I loved Frank McCourt's books when they were read by the author. "Angelas Ashes" is on top of my all-time list.
I believed that this book was among the same genre. I thought it was about young, Irish students trying to make a go of life. Turns out, it was a long and detailed list of the angst of teenage boys and the turmoil they face while struggling through daily life.
It was just No big deal. I did NOT like the characters. They didn't bring me into their heads. If I cared about them, I may have paid better attention. I hope to struggle to the end of this book and find out why and how Skippy dies. That will be enough for a credit lost.

Short, sweet and to the point: I read alot. I can't finish this. It is disjointed, unpleasant and never ending. It is a waste of my time and upsetting to even write about this singularly boring and undeserving book. I "get" Brit Lit humor. This isn't it. Spend your credit on something that makes sense.. This doesn't.

I am almost through part 1. I doubt I will be able to finish this but I keep trying because I spent a whole credit getting it and I am stubborn. It is very difficult to follow or stay focused on. I agree with other reviewers that it is hard to determine who is talking. Also I do not care for the narrator, he speaks just a little too fast, making it even harder to follow what is going on. It probably would be an easier book to read than to listen to as then backtracking is possible, it would be easy to determine who is speaking and the most inane parts could be skipped over. I am sorry I bought this book. I usually "trust" Audible that when a book is featured it is not a waste of time but in the future I will wait for the reviews to come in before relying on that reasoning.