The Guts by Roddy Doyle

Since we first encountered Jimmy Rabbitte, the godfather of The Commitments has acquired a wife, four kids, a dog called Messi and bowel cancer. Characteristically, Jimmy won’t let something as mediocre as mortality hold him back. Here he comes, resurrecting dead bands; there he goes, learning the trumpet; and there’s still time to turn his first-born into a rock god, have a fling with the irresistible Imelda, and locate his long-lost brother. The pace is superfast, but Roddy Doyle can just as easily hit the hard shoulder for exchanges aspiring to Beckett:

– You’re never drunk.

– I know.

– It was lovely.

– Grand.

And, of course, there’s the F word – almost a character in itself – reappearing with chirpy bonhomie even in the bowels of Jimmy’s illness. Somehow, a bittersweet narrative fights its way out through the craic, culminating in a mad weekend at a music festival. By the end, we’re as much in the dark about Jimmy’s estranged brother as we were at the start, and his fling with Imelda seems to finish not with a bang, but a question mark. No matter. So long as Roddy Doyle keeps pulling Rabbittes from his hat, all will be grand. [James Carson]