The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress

Author	Paul Howard
Illustrator	Alan Clarke
Cover artist	Alan Clarke
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Series	Ross O'Carroll-Kelly
Genre	Comic novel, satire
Set in	Dublin, 2004–05
Publisher	Penguin Books
Publication date	1 June 2006
Media type	Paperback
Pages	303
ISBN	978-0-14-192592-9
OCLC	65469820
Dewey Decimal	823.92
LC Class	PR6108 .O93
Preceded by	PS, I Scored The Bridesmaids
Followed by	Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress is a 2006 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the fifth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The title is an allusion to the Mark Haddon novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time , the titular "dog" being Ronan's mother, Tina Masters.

Plot

Ross deals with the fallout from the discovery of his seven-year-old son, a working-class Northsider named Ronan. ^[4] His father Charles stands for election to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council.

Reception

Blogger Scéal Milis noted this book as the turning point in the Ross saga: "Perhaps the greatest evolution in Ross's personality comes after he discovers at the end of PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids that he had unknowingly fathered a son from the working class Northside years earlier. In his relationship with son Ronan, and later his children with Sorcha, Ross probably exhibits his most endearing characteristics and, despite his general incompetence and irresponsible behaviour, proves himself to be surprisingly good father." ^[5]

Declan Lynch called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress a "literary triumph" and "hilarious" in the Irish Independent , noting that many shops were displaying the book next to rugby player Brian O'Driscoll's A Year In The Centre. ^[6] The Irish Independent's "PS" column wrote that it "manages not only to be side splittingly funny but also the most accurate and vicious satire on the loathsome, vacuous pond life who make up so much of Dublin 4." ^[7]

In The Irish Times , Thomas Cooney wrote that "While the joke may not be as fresh as it once was, it still possesses enough punch to elicit a laugh-out-loud response," and that "For those on the outside there is plenty to laugh at, while for those finding themselves relating to and recognising much of Ross's existence, the book takes on a worrying meaning all of its own." ^{[8] [9]}

Ross's popularity at the time of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress's release led to a "shrine" in his honour being erected in the VIP area of 21, a new nightclub on D'Olier Street, Dublin. ^[10]

References

1. Maher, Eamon; O'Brien, Eugene (4 September 2014). From Prosperity to Austerity: A Socio-Cultural Critique of the Celtic Tiger and Its Aftermath. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780719091674 – via Google Books.
2. Hickey, R. (12 April 2016). Sociolinguistics in Ireland. Springer. ISBN   9781137453471 – via Google Books.
3. O'Keeffe, Anne; McCarthy, Michael (5 April 2010). The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics. Routledge. ISBN   9781135153632 – via Google Books.
4. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress". www.books.ie.
5. Milis, Scéal (15 April 2018). "The Curious Case of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly".
6. "A few pints, work hord, play hord. Roysh?". Independent.ie. 6 November 2005.
7. "PS - Independent.ie". Archived from the original on 8 August 2019.
8. "Ronan and Rosser get real". The Irish Times.
9. "This year they said". The Irish Times.
10. "No getting away from a mid-term break". The Irish Times.