For his many devoted readers: the first collection of stories from Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle.
For the past few years Roddy Doy... read full description
For the past few years Roddy Doy... read full description
reviews
Apr 19, 2008
James
rated it: 
Fucking in fiction: are you for or against? I only ask because Roddy Doyle's frequent use of the F-word might cause even Gordon Ramsay to turn salmon-pink. Bad language as a shock tactic often falls flat, but sometimes profanity signals credibility. So thumbs up for The Deportees; If you're looking for the real Dublin, forget Bono, Riverdance and Dustin the Turkey, Doyle has the Irish capital to a T. And an F.
The Deportees is a compilation of short stories written by Doyle for Dublin More...
The Deportees is a compilation of short stories written by Doyle for Dublin More...
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Jan 28, 2009
Yulia
rated it: 
Read this for the title story, "The Deportees," which is a five-star gem, hilarious and refreshingly honest and really great in bringing out the frightened optimist in you.
Unfortunately this collection includes seven others stories, which aren't nearly as good. The next best would be "Guess Who's Coming for the Dinner," an Irish retake on the classic Poitier film, with great dialoque and more candid moments that will make you smile.
"New Boy" More...
Unfortunately this collection includes seven others stories, which aren't nearly as good. The next best would be "Guess Who's Coming for the Dinner," an Irish retake on the classic Poitier film, with great dialoque and more candid moments that will make you smile.
"New Boy" More...
May 01, 2008
Trin
rated it:
Really interesting collection of stories about race and racism in Dublin. These were originally published serially, with each of the stories broken down into 800-word segments, and Doyle admits in the introduction that he didn’t really plan ahead, so a couple of them sort of meander and change direction in ways that can be slightly disconcerting. (This is most apparent in the collection’s first story, “Guess Who’s Coming to the Dinner”; I think Doyle was still getting used to the format.) Most o
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Jul 24, 2008
Colin
rated it:
I'm between two minds here, because on the one hand, this isn't the best short story collection I've ever read, nor is it Roddy Doyle at his finest. In another way, however, it is a collection that I loved reading and it is Doyle doing all of the wonderful things that has made him my favorite writer...
I'll explain.
If you've never read Roddy Doyle, you need to. I have never come across an author who could make you care about a character the way that he can. Paula Spence More...
I'll explain.
If you've never read Roddy Doyle, you need to. I have never come across an author who could make you care about a character the way that he can. Paula Spence More...
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Feb 05, 2009
Roddy Doyle, celebrated chronicler of the Irish working class and winner of the 1993 Man Booker Prize (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha), turns his attention to the immigrant experience in his first collection of short stories. The stories collected here first appeared in 800-word installments in the Dublin weekly newspaper Metro Eireann, which was founded in 2000 by two Nigerian journalists. Critics agreed that The Deportees is vintage Doyle, demonstrating his sharp wit, lively sense of humor, richly draw
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May 05, 2009
Michael VanZandt
rated it:
I loved reading this collection of short stories -- which Doyle wrote for a Dublin weekly, with a primarily African and/or immigrant readership -- after having read Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I read this within the general context and reflection of "strangers", group membership and identity. I have also though much about it in relation to the book, Murder in Amsterdam (the case of Theo Van Gogh's murder at the hands of a second-generation Moroccan-Dutchman) and my own teaching
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Nov 07, 2011
Guillermo
rated it: 
"Ireland America was never Ireland America to me." It's Langston Hughes rewritten, but the message works an ocean away from Harlem. And that's what drew me into Roddy Doyle's stories. Racism isn't just an American issue, nor is immigration. I'm sure the world will like to think so, but Doyle has painted a clear picture that it's not. But it's those topics that hit home. That made these stories memorable.
The book collects nine stories - eight of which are set in Ireland, one More...
The book collects nine stories - eight of which are set in Ireland, one More...
Feb 03, 2010
Abraham
rated it:
I have long been interested in knowing how immigrants view my country, the United States. What is the US to them? What do they admire and love? What is despicable and shameful? What makes them feel welcome, or shunned? Being married to an immigrant gives me some insight into these questions. In fact, Erika (my wife) is a double-immigrant; she immigrated to Argentina from Peru, and then to the US. Hearing about her stories of both immigration experiences makes me curious to learn more about what
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Dec 21, 2008
Ryan
rated it: 
The author explains that these stories were in a newspaper devoted to immigrant issues in Ireland, and many of the stories are snippets of people coming to terms with a changing demographic in Ireland and cultural clashing. A good goal, to be sure, but the execution of the writing wasn't appealing to me. I actually didn't finish, which is rare for me. The titular story involves the guy from the author's The Commitments as he tries to form a new band made up of immigrants while helping raise hi
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Sep 01, 2009
Leon
rated it:
-How’s things?
-Grand
Like the immigrants and the sons and daughters of such people in Ireland in the book, they are apprised of this slang, now.
Also, like the illegal immigrant in the story I Understand I might even say ‘fuck that’, as he does when his bus goes past without stopping. He gets the approval of the natives, who approve, telling him, ‘Making the effort’. Oh, and he loves saying, ‘it is grand’. This is one of the phrases he learns from Kevin, a waiter fo More...
-Grand
Like the immigrants and the sons and daughters of such people in Ireland in the book, they are apprised of this slang, now.
Also, like the illegal immigrant in the story I Understand I might even say ‘fuck that’, as he does when his bus goes past without stopping. He gets the approval of the natives, who approve, telling him, ‘Making the effort’. Oh, and he loves saying, ‘it is grand’. This is one of the phrases he learns from Kevin, a waiter fo More...
Mar 16, 2009
John
rated it:
Roddy Doyle revisits some earlier territory, revealing the vast changes that have taken place in Ireland since he wrote The Commitments. The Deportees are another band cobbled together by Jimmy Rabbitte, but this time they are a roaring success. All of the stories in this book, however, deal in some way with the many immigrants who have come to Ireland during its boom years. Doyle's humour knows no peer, yet there's an edge to some of these stories and a level of violence in some that can be
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Jun 25, 2010
Daniel
rated it: 
Nope. I'm done. I haven't enjoyed anything of Doyle's since The Van. I bought this book of a whim and on a budget... hardcover, yet used... with an expression of trepidation on my face that only an all-knowing cynic could visually provide.
And please don't call the expression sourpuss. As I like spicy food items and dislike cats I feel that the sourpuss expression does not adequately lend itself to my trepidacious expression. If anything, sourpuss comes across as a double enten More...
And please don't call the expression sourpuss. As I like spicy food items and dislike cats I feel that the sourpuss expression does not adequately lend itself to my trepidacious expression. If anything, sourpuss comes across as a double enten More...
Oct 14, 2008
"THE DEPORTEES AND OTHER STORIES,"
by Roddy Doyle
Ireland has changed.
The Ireland that for so many years forced its native population to leave has in recent times, seen a booming economy, so people struggling in other parts of the world are flocking to this new land of opportunity, Ireland.
Thank God Roddy Doyle is alive and well and writing to capture the turn around, and doing it in the manner that causes laugh-out-loud reading.
As al More...
by Roddy Doyle
Ireland has changed.
The Ireland that for so many years forced its native population to leave has in recent times, seen a booming economy, so people struggling in other parts of the world are flocking to this new land of opportunity, Ireland.
Thank God Roddy Doyle is alive and well and writing to capture the turn around, and doing it in the manner that causes laugh-out-loud reading.
As al More...
Jul 18, 2008
Diana
rated it:
This book of short stories is about immigrants (mostly illegal) in Ireland. It is a wonderful collection of stories with a multicultural theme. Roddy Doyle is one of my favorite authors. I really loved "A star called Henry", historical fiction about the founding of the IRA. However, he is best known for novellas that feature contemporary working class Irish lives. He wrote "The Commitments" about a young man's dream to create the first Irish soul band. It was made into
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May 11, 2008
William
rated it:
(first i have to admit a deception -- i did not read this book. i actually want to write a review of a short story by doyle that was published in a recent new yorker. but you can't enter short stories in the goodreads format, so i did the next best thing -- i used doyle's most recent (and first) book of stories.)
i just read the roddy doyle story "bullfighting" in the april 28 issue of the new yorker. i was blown away. it is so tight. and beautifully written. not in the sen More...
i just read the roddy doyle story "bullfighting" in the april 28 issue of the new yorker. i was blown away. it is so tight. and beautifully written. not in the sen More...
Jun 03, 2008
Jenny
rated it:
Oh wow, I always loved Roddy Doyle's stuff, cuz it was so quintessentially Irish. And here he goes again, with this collection of short stories, telling the story of what it means to be Irish now, in the new multi-cultural Ireland. In the intro he writes "I went to bed in one country and woke up in a different one. That was how it felt, for a while. It took getting used to. I'd written a novel, The Van, in 1990, about an unemployed plasterer. Five or six years later, there was no such
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Jan 10, 2008
Ian
rated it:
‘The Deportees’ is an anthology of stories written by Roddy Doyle for ‘Metro Eireann’, a newspaper started by, and aimed at immigrants to Ireland. So rather than be a straight anthology of short stories, the stories are themed either as a story written about an immigrant to Ireland or a native Irishman coming to terms with his newly found multicultural society. As a nation the Irish are used to supplying not receiving immigrant labour and receiving not supplying racial prejudice, it is undoubted
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Apr 13, 2009
gwen
rated it:
Audio recording was definitely the way to go with this book -- the narrator's amazing range of accents made it infinitely more enjoyable. Each story was originally written in installments for an Irish magazine, and each one deals with immigration in a different way. I especially loved the title story and the return of Jimmy Rabbite from the Barrytown Trilogy (as well as the Oscar-nominated short film it inspired). And "The Tram," a horror story that came out of nowhere and scared me ha
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Jan 06, 2009
Hannah
rated it:
While not all of the stories in this collection were as strong as others, I loved two in particular, and they have stayed with me. One, The story of a working class Irish father brought into chaos when his daughter brings a Nigerian man home for dinner, and the other from the point of view of an elementary school aged African refugee going through his first days in Irish school. Also, it was nice to see what Jimmy Rabbite was up to after all this time.
Jun 09, 2010
Robin
rated it:
had to read this book for class, but I liked it. It was like James Joyce's Dubliners, only it definitely had a more optimistic and happier approach. Dry and witty, the story chapters are short but to the point, and mirrors the format of Dubliners. It was an interesting portrait of the changing face of Ireland today, though it does run the risk of calling up too much imagery relating to Dubliners and therefore paling in comparison to Joyce. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read.
Feb 14, 2009
Deborah
rated it:
I just wrapped this up, and feel like I've discovered a writer I want to read more from. "Deportees" is a collection of stories about the experiences of Africans in Ireland (and, in one case, of a dark-skinned Irishman in the U.S.). All of the stories mine a deep vein of humor -- one about an African boy's problems with a bully in his class has some very funny moments, as well as some, when he recalls his father's death, that moved me to tears. They're vividly written and marvelously t
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Apr 02, 2009
dannymac
rated it:
It's not your da's Ireland anymore and more so for the better. And to think, one could say that it all started with U2 start at the Lipton House in Dublin 30 years ago. Resurrects the life of Jimmy Rabbit from the Committments who even with a wife and daughter can't seem to bear assimilating to a commoner's life of dead end job that's despised and years of drudgery and we're richer for it. I'm glad somebody still thinks like that. He never gets discouraged with all the barriers he encounters. My
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Jun 08, 2011
Sarah Jane
rated it:
I love Roddy Doyle. His writing is both hilarious and enlightening. He writes about racism, Irish immigration/emigration, and various social problems related to all of the above from a very...human...perspective. This book is a collection of his short stories. I had to read a few of them for my Irishness class, but I ended up reading the whole collection because it was so entertaining.
Mar 30, 2008
Kathy
rated it:
I love reading Roddy Doyle. I don't think there's anything of his writings that I haven't enjoyed. In fact, I would love to sit down with a pint or two with Doyle and talk about his inspirations.
The Deportees is a collection of short stories with the common theme being someone from Ireland meeting someone who's come to live there. There's a huge immigration movement there these days since their economy is doing so well.
All of the stories are great and different. There More...
The Deportees is a collection of short stories with the common theme being someone from Ireland meeting someone who's come to live there. There's a huge immigration movement there these days since their economy is doing so well.
All of the stories are great and different. There More...
Jul 07, 2009
Ann7398
rated it:
This is Roddy Doyle at the top of his form. It's a collection of short stories written in smaller segments (originally published in a magazine.) He presents stories of outsiders, and insiders dealing with outsiders. His ear for language is unsurpassed. I read this book in a day. R.D. captures the tension between immigrants and the natives beautifully.
Feb 12, 2009
Amy
rated it:
Not his best, but still fun to read. Books like "the Woman Who Walked Into Doors" amazed me with their ability to richly and convincingly describe life from the perspective of someone so different from the author...apparently, he's better at being a woman than he is at being non-Irish. His foreign characters seem very simplified.
Jul 03, 2008
Priya
rated it:
Ah Roddy Doyle. You're like a comforting khao phat after a long train trip. This is a short story collection and if, like me, you're a bit of a Roddy Doyle fangirl, there's nothing wrong with any of these stories and a lot right with all of them.
Themes of everyday life, family and, more obviously, immigration-- how it feels to be new, bewildered, not quite sure where you fit in (or, if you fit in) are evident as Mr. Doyle crafts his tales and makes you wish he wrote more of these fa More...
Themes of everyday life, family and, more obviously, immigration-- how it feels to be new, bewildered, not quite sure where you fit in (or, if you fit in) are evident as Mr. Doyle crafts his tales and makes you wish he wrote more of these fa More...
Aug 08, 2011
Trevor
rated it:
An excellent set of short stories, written by Doyle originally for a Dublin newspaper aimed at immigrants to Ireland. It's refreshing to have re-discovered Doyle in this way; several times he made me laugh out loud a la Barrytown Trilogy style. Top form, highly recommended, especially if you've spent time in Dublin.
Nov 27, 2008
Celeste
rated it:
I listened to this in the car on the way from VA to Michigan (and back) with my parents, and it was good for that. Also a good reinforcement to my stories of life in the new Ireland. The stories were all right, a bit cliche but amusing enough. Plenty of swearing, which is equally Old Irish and New Irish.
