Skippy Dies

By: Paul Murray

Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Khristine Hvam, John Keating, Lawrence Lowry, Graeme Malcolm, Paul Nugent

Length: 23 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

This touching and uproarious novel by author Paul Murray made everyone’s best fiction of 2010 lists, including The Washington Post, Financial Times, Village Voice, and others. Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the mystery that links the boys of Dublin’s Seabrook College (Ruprecht Van Doren, the overweight genius obsessed with string theory; Carl, the teenager drug dealer and borderline psychotic; Philip Kilfether, the basketball-playing midget) to their parents and teachers in ways that no one could have imagined.

This unique production of Murray’s heartfelt exploration of the pain, joy, and beauty of adolescence features an all-star narrating cast of 16 Audible favorites: John Keating, Graeme Malcom, Khristine Hvam, Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Lawrence Lowry, Paul Nugent, Tim Smallwood, Fiona Walsh, Fiana Toibin, Declan Sammon, Heather O'Neill, and Ed Malone.

©2010 Paul Murray (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Hilarious, haunting, and heartbreaking, it is inarguably among the most memorable novels of the year to date." ( Booklist)

"Dazzling... If killing your protagonist with more than 600 pages to go sounds audacious, it's nothing compared with the literary feats Murray pulls off in this hilarious, moving and wise book." ( Washington Post Book World)

"Extravagantly entertaining." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Only an adolescent boy could enjoy this.

What disappointed you about Skippy Dies?

This is about adolescent boys disliking school, using drugs, and obsessing over girls one chapter after another.

What do you think your next listen will be?

A book from one of the series in my library.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None what so ever. About half way through I jumped to the last chapter and didn't seem to have missed anything.

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed all the other Audible books I have listened to. I hope this is posted to save other devoted Audible readers a disappointment.

Too long, barely a story

Too long. Not really sure what the story was about. Characters not fully developed. Annoying to have different narrators. Wouldn’t do it again.

Could not listen to this narrator

I was looking forward to hearing this story, but could not listen to the whiny narrator's voice for very long, and soon abandoned the entire audio book.

Disappointing

This book was horrible!! It was so boring and so difficult to follow. I was confused half the time and the ending just left me frustrated. I NEVER write reviews but I was so incredibly disappointed with this book that I felt the need to spare someone else.

Different Sense of Humor

Those who have rated this book high and listed it as uproariously funny, have different tastes than I. I waded through part 1, waiting and hoping the funny would start. It didn't. The plot takes place at a boy's school in the UK. Ah, a few lines made me smile in the beginning, but as the book moved on, I simply found myself disgusted with having to hear each boy's wet dreams.

Bottom line: listen to a bit before buying. The first scene appears to be the best there is to offer so expect a down hill ride.

Don't Bother

Disgusting and boring. The narrator might be good but since the story is so bad it's hard to tell. I would not recommend this book to anybody.

Sorry I bought this

Interminably boring and painfully slow. Like literally reliving every second of a long, dull, idiotic teenagerhood! Who would ever want to do that?
I put it down when I realized I wanted to dope slap most of the characters for their moronic behavior - the ensuing brawl would be more interesting than the book.
The large cast of readers make the book painful to listen to as well. If I could give less than one star I would

Slow to Capture the Listener

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.

Extremely unsatisfying ending

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can't think of anyone who I would recommend this story to. I would feel guilty knowing, that when they got to the end, they would undoubtedly feel disappointed and annoyed.

Has Skippy Dies turned you off from other books in this genre?

In all honesty, I have no clue what genre you could call this book. It's certainly a work of fiction, but it is not funny enough to be a comedy, dark enough to be a horror story, and the ending is too vague and unclear for it to be a satisfying mystery. I most likely will not seek out other books by this author.

What character would you cut from Skippy Dies?

I would have cut the part of the geography teacher, as she, despite seeming very important in the first part of the book, becomes relatively pointless as the story goes on.

Any additional comments?

If you are a fan of closure and if you prefer to have all your questions answered and loose ends tied up, you will not enjoy this book. For a book that is almost 24 hours long, one would assume that Paul Murray would have made a thorough and well planned ending, but no, The story just sort of cuts off, Villains go unpunished, Heros go unrewarded, and characters are left floating in the ether. It is a long lead to a very dissatisfying end.

Bizarre coming of age novel

This book is about boys in a school coming of age but drugs, suicide, beatings, not my cup of tea. I read the whole thing and was very happy it was over. 3 parts?! "Probably won a Pulitzer", she said sarcastically.