?>

J. P. Donleavy


James Patrick Donleavy (23 April 1926 - 11 September 2017) was an Irish American novelist and playwright. His first novel was The Ginger Man. Another novel, A Fairy Tale of New York, provided the title of the famous song "Fairytale of New York". Born in New York City to Irish emigrant parents, he served in the US Navy during World War II. After the war ended he moved to Ireland. In 1946 he began studying at Trinity College, Dublin, but left before taking a degree. He was first published in the Dublin literary periodical, Envoy. He gained critical acclaim with his first novel, The Ginger Man, which is one of the Modern Library 100 best novels. The novel was banned in Ireland and the United States of America by reason of obscenity. Lead character Sebastian Dangerfield was in part based on Trinity College companion Gainor Crist, an American Navy veteran also studying at Trinity College on the G. I. Bill, whom Donleavy once described in an interview as a 'saint,' though of a Rabelaisian kind correctly or incorrectly, his initial works are sometimes grouped with the Kitchen Sink artists as well as the "Angry Young Men". Donleavy lives at Levington Park, a country house on 200 acres (0.81 km2) directly on Lough Owel, near Mullingar, County Westmeath. He received his education at various schools in the USA and at Trinity College, Dublin (1946–49). Donleavy declared himself an atheist at the age of 14. He married Valerie Heron in 1946; the couple had two children: Philip (born 1951) and Karen (born 1955). They divorced in 1969. He remarried in 1970 to Mary Wilson Price; that union ended in divorce in 1989. Source: Wikipedia.org

Books by J. P. Donleavy
Showing 1 to 12 of 32 Books

Singular Country

Showing 1 to 12 of 32 Books