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Capital Vices
A backpacker in India admires the integrity of cockroaches. An amputee dwarf hustles a biker gang in the last chance saloon. A young girl discovers the magic of poitín. The Bat Man saves lives on a Thai beach. Santa Claus ruins Christmas. Bono is constipated. A U.S. marine kills Donald to save America. Capital Vices is a story collection like no other. Dark, disturbing, wild and comic. An exhilarating joyride in the splendid company of outlaws, chancers, rogues and vagabonds. Conor Montague is a fearless writer with an uncanny ability to take the reader further, faster. Fierce, poetic, innovative and often very funny. This collection has it all; the depths and the darkness, as well as images that ring clear as a bell and linger. A brilliant body of work.
—Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship Flan O’Brien meets Hunter S – Fear and Loathing in Ballinasloe and beyond. Montague’s wild book is akin to strapping yourself onto a rollercoaster that snakes around three continents, and just when you are upside down and crying for mercy, you swerve off to a different place, moved by characters rarely written about in Irish fiction. Brilliantly written with a natural ear for dialogue and a deep love for those unrooted headcases who wander the globe open to adventure. From the dark institutions of Ireland they take on the world and grab life bare handed, as if it were the throat of a cobra slithering into your jail cell.
—Emer Martin, author of Thirsty Ghosts Montague writes with a direct, visceral poetry and this whole collection is the work of a born storyteller.
—Mike McCormack, author of Solar Bones Conor Montague writes neon draped prose, characters caught, lost, or living entranced in a smelter of realities. His words conjure a misfit’s vision, a child’s delight, a killer’s desperate play-land. Akin to Henry Miller, Conor Montague writes of ‘lost souls downtown’ and the constant lurking yearn for lives other than our own.
—Órfhlaith Foyle, author of Three Houses in Rome The characters in Capital Vices are tightly wound and on edge in Montague’s intense visceral dramas. Montague has the ear of a dramatist — acute to the darkly funny sounds of people trying to talk their way out of trouble. Both lyrical and absurd, Montague’s stories are a joy to read.
—Martina Evans, author of American Mules With Capital Vices Montague has created a memorable cast of characters; errant, wayward, misplaced, and all the time scavenging for their place in the scheme of things. A collection replete with whiskey wisdom; ache and edge; heart and humour; vigour and poignancy, the swish and bluster of life.
—Alan McMonagle, author of Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame A roller coaster ride through time, from Ireland to India with a stopover in Disney World. Montague’s stories are packed to the brim with craic and cringe in equal measure. Written in technicolour, an ensemble cast of characters are all tested to the limit with unexpected results. This magical blend of flash fiction and short stories is fresh and inventive, I laughed out loud and cried in turn.
—Aoibheann McCann, author of Marina
—Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship Flan O’Brien meets Hunter S – Fear and Loathing in Ballinasloe and beyond. Montague’s wild book is akin to strapping yourself onto a rollercoaster that snakes around three continents, and just when you are upside down and crying for mercy, you swerve off to a different place, moved by characters rarely written about in Irish fiction. Brilliantly written with a natural ear for dialogue and a deep love for those unrooted headcases who wander the globe open to adventure. From the dark institutions of Ireland they take on the world and grab life bare handed, as if it were the throat of a cobra slithering into your jail cell.
—Emer Martin, author of Thirsty Ghosts Montague writes with a direct, visceral poetry and this whole collection is the work of a born storyteller.
—Mike McCormack, author of Solar Bones Conor Montague writes neon draped prose, characters caught, lost, or living entranced in a smelter of realities. His words conjure a misfit’s vision, a child’s delight, a killer’s desperate play-land. Akin to Henry Miller, Conor Montague writes of ‘lost souls downtown’ and the constant lurking yearn for lives other than our own.
—Órfhlaith Foyle, author of Three Houses in Rome The characters in Capital Vices are tightly wound and on edge in Montague’s intense visceral dramas. Montague has the ear of a dramatist — acute to the darkly funny sounds of people trying to talk their way out of trouble. Both lyrical and absurd, Montague’s stories are a joy to read.
—Martina Evans, author of American Mules With Capital Vices Montague has created a memorable cast of characters; errant, wayward, misplaced, and all the time scavenging for their place in the scheme of things. A collection replete with whiskey wisdom; ache and edge; heart and humour; vigour and poignancy, the swish and bluster of life.
—Alan McMonagle, author of Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame A roller coaster ride through time, from Ireland to India with a stopover in Disney World. Montague’s stories are packed to the brim with craic and cringe in equal measure. Written in technicolour, an ensemble cast of characters are all tested to the limit with unexpected results. This magical blend of flash fiction and short stories is fresh and inventive, I laughed out loud and cried in turn.
—Aoibheann McCann, author of Marina
212 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 22, 2024
The stories in Capital Vices deliver themselves. This is a collection that rings true of life; authentic, unexpected, often hilarious, peopled with tasty vagabonds, accidental participants, unwitting heroes, and gobsmacked witnesses, entangled and connected in this gorgeous technicolor Panavision life, and told through the clear eye of a true master. Jump in - find yourself wondering the fate of ActionMan on Christmas morning, cursing your best friend as you are pushed into the ice cold waters of the Claddagh, find yourself with a King Cobra draped over your shoulders, or being grilled by Orlando's finest, or sprinting down a Thai beach with your balls on fire – this, this is living!
April 2, 2024
An eclectic mix of rampage and poetry, warmth and laughter. Conor's stories are a fascinating journey through the eyes of a man who's done a bit of everything... and then some. Incredible characters and situations, woven into stories so vivid and sensory they left me thinking there's more to these than fiction. Terrific!
August 21, 2025
Loved these stories. Cracking voice. So energetic. The prose is as concrete as breezeblocks. The elisions, wow: Master Avoidant. Kind of Michael McLaverty gone methed-up Rando globe-drifter. No plans. No morals. Irish meets World, Irish loses. Some absolute crackers wending a way to Ballinasloe, which was the topper.
March 1, 2024
Great collection from an important Irish voice. Think EM Reapy and Mike McCormack meets Alex Garland and Hunter S. Thompson but all distinctly Conor Montague. The stories are local and international, all relatable and hauntingly powerful. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews