A great shout of life and individuality.

The book I'll be pressing into people's hands forever is Lolly Willowes [. . .] Starting as a straightforward, albeit beautifully written family saga, it tips suddenly into extraordinary, lucid wildness.

Sylvia Townsend Warner moves with sombre confidence into the realm of the supernatural, and her prose, in its simple, abrupt evocations, has something preternatural about it

Funny and adorable

I was reminded - very happily reminded - of Kurt Vonnegut. But Patrick Freyne is his own writer and this book is clever, lovely and great, great fun

Patrick Freyne has a distinct and enviable gift for story-telling ... Full of humour and tenderness, this book is an absolute JOY

One of the best-written, smartest and gosh-darn-it funniest books I've read in a very long while

Hilariously, painfully, Freynefully brilliant

Whether he's writing about his childhood on a military base, working in a kebab shop with a nazi in his teens, playing in punk bands in his twenties, or grappling with the question of whether to have children, Patrick Freyne is a writer of rare humour, depth, and humanity. These essays are a delight

A cracking, sad, funny, honest, brave and hilarious read

No one makes me laugh like Patrick Freyne

Superb ... The stories move from breathtakingly vulnerable to extraordinarily funny, and all with such skill and lightness of touch. I loved it

I don't know another writer who could balance poignancy and hilarity with such grace ... Goosebumps! Guffaws! It's got it all. I love this book

Guffaw-out-loud funny

A riotous read from the get-go ... An absolute tonic for our times

F*cking fantastic. Patrick is a brilliant writer

Lovely ... It's very worth reading

A wonderful book ... done with a gorgeous twist of humour and great emotional insight ... One of my books of the year

Exquisite ... One of the funniest writers in Ireland

Immensely readable, warm, human and very, very funny

Pixies were loud-quiet-loud. Patrick Freyne is funny-sad-funny. I really loved his new book

Readers are sure to find themselves touched by Freyne's writing ... Delightful

Freyne's thoroughly entertaining debut is a flash of warmth and wit in the darkness

Genuinely moving ... [It] will evoke warmth in anyone who isn't totally sociopathic

A delightful insight into the mind of the hilarious Patrick Freyne

So honest, so funny, and most importantly, 11/10 for self-deprecation

Brilliant ... An absolute mind hug

Freyne's radar is precision-honed to find the madness within the mundane

More moving that I ever expected and somehow funnier than I assumed

Editor's Choice: A gorgeous story about friendship, adventure and the importance of taking risks.

AUDIO BOOK OF THE WEEK

A hilarious jaunt into the wilderness of women's friendship and the triumph of outrageous dreams.

Miss Benson's Beetle is an absolute joy - a wild, funny, and breathlessly exciting adventure story that's also a moving and beautifully drawn portrait of an improbable female friendship in a world still emerging from the trauma of two world wars. Joyce writes about Margery and Enid with such tenderness and compassion, such wisdom and humour, weaving an irresistible tale of frailty and strength, curiosity and courage, grief and hope.

Margery Benson dreams of finding a mythical gold beetle in New Caledonia. So she and her irritating assistant set sail from London in 1950-and become kindred spirits during an adventure both zany and harrowing. It's a wildly original, life-affirming tale.

A book that will have you howling with laughter the one moment and wiping away tears the next - my favourite read in years. Don't miss it.