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The Butcher Boy (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,848 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
When I was a lad twenty or thirty or forty years ago I lived in a small town where they were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs. Nugent.
Welcome to the mind of Francie Brady. Just what Francie did to Mrs. Nugent is the final, terrifying act of a young boy at the end of a relentless descent into a world of scorn and fear, brought to unforgettably vivid life in this tour-de-force performance by author Patrick McCabe.
Francie Brady, the "pig boy," is growing up in a poor small Irish town in the early sixties, fueled on an adolescent's comic books, Flash Bars, and John Wayne movies. He is determined to win the Francie Brady Not a Bad Bastard Anymore Diploma. But how do you do that when your mother is sent to the madhouse, your father is an alcoholic, and everyone turns their back on you?
A major motion picture from Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) and read with the bravura performance style that has earned McCabe raves on both sides of the Atlantic, The Butcher Boy is a stunning audio thriller.
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"One of the saddest, and most compelling stories I have read as of late. Patrick McCabe is quite an author, his writing style makes it easy to get through a book in one day, and the tales that he does tell are gripping. I felt so lost as I learned more and more about Francie, I wish I could have been in the book with him. Telling him everything was okay, that I "wouldn't let him down" like all the rest. That, of course it wasn't and couldn't be his fault about his mother. And that yes, he father was a bastard. I will be thinking about Francie and this book for days and I know it. How could the boy not turn out the way he did with all the lying and deceit and cold shoulders and misunderstandings in that fucking town he lived in? By christ, whomever can read this book and not think a thing of it when it is done, is no worse than the people of town within these pages..."
— Lee (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Stunning...part Huck Finn, part Holden Caufield, part Hannibal Lecter.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Brilliant, unique. Patrick McCabe pushes your head through the book and you come out the other end gasping, admiring, and knowing that reading fiction will never be the same again. It’s the best Irish novel I’ve read in years.”
— Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha -
“A chilling tale of a child's hell...often screamingly funny...the book has a compelling and terrible beauty.”
— Boston Globe -
“An almost perfect novel...A Beckett monologue with plot by Alfred Hitchcock...Startlingly original.
— Washington Post Book World -
“Patrick McCabe is an outstanding writer. The Butcher Boy is fearful, original, compelling and very hard to put out of your mind. American readers should pay close attention to this man.”
— Thomas McGuane, American novelist
Awards
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A 1994 Bram Stoker Award Nominee
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Recipient of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award
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Winner of the 1992 Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize
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A 1992 Man Booker Prize Finalist
The Butcher Boy Listener Reviews
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" As disturbing as the subject matter is, it really is an engaging book. Despite the fact that the main character is a psychopath, you do feel sorry for everything he goes through in his life. "
— April, 2/13/2014 -
" I even could not finish reading this book. But the book is not my taste. So I stop "
— Yinmin, 2/8/2014 -
" Couldn't put the book down, scary how the human mind works "
— Bill, 1/29/2014 -
" Masterfully written, although I couldn't say I 'enjoyed' it. I would only recommend this book to someone with a strong stomach! "
— Sophia, 1/23/2014 -
" This is a powerful book, one that fills the reader with pity and terror. The protagonist is Francie Brady, a sort of Irish Huckleberry Finn, with three important differences: 1) Francie still yearns to be respectable, 2) he has no wise Jim to guide him, and 3) he is despised by his town and betrayed by Joe, his own Tom Sawyer. Alas, there is no Mississippi river to escape to, and the book ends in blood and madness. Yet--and this is one of the strange strengths of the book--it is narrated by Francie in an upbeat, almost jaunty tone that never loses its sense of humor or its humanity. "
— Bill, 1/4/2014 -
" great book and my copy is extra special cause it's signed by the great man himself "
— Sean, 1/1/2014 -
" A well-executed and disturbing novel. "
— John, 12/16/2013 -
" Ah. Poor old Mrs Nugent but you gotta love Francie! "
— Siobhan, 12/5/2013 -
" The author did a nice job of finding the main character's voice and I felt like I was struggling with him as his world kept changing despite his own arrested development. It felt very real as if you get a better feel for what it must be like fall into psychosis. "
— Erica, 11/24/2013 -
" And yet, like The Wasp Factory, I never want to read it again. "
— Holly, 11/17/2013 -
" Really messed up but good. "
— Snickt007, 7/21/2013 -
" an amazing voice tells this story, a voice that you realize is sadly psychotic. Horror and heartbreak mingle in one broken teenage boy "
— Herb, 6/13/2013 -
" stay away from children "
— Kelley, 9/14/2012 -
" this book was not what i expected. it was both dark and captivating. the character was raw, alive, evil, innocent, and unexpected. "
— Faith, 12/29/2011 -
" The childhood of Anton Chigur, as experienced by a chummy, hilarious, sociopathic little Irish boy. Extremely vivid and livid "
— Brendan, 10/27/2011 -
" Creepy and confusing... "
— Nathan, 8/15/2011 -
" This was my favourite novel when I was 17 years old. I related to The Butcher Boy in ways that I probably shouldn't have! A mischievous anti-hero, in this Patrick McCabe created an enduring classic. "
— Ben, 7/17/2011 -
" Pretty amazing book, despite some points I wish I could skip. I both empathised with and disliked Francie. I found this book really humorous at times, and at other times painfully sad. "
— Alex, 1/13/2011 -
" I found this one slightly over-rated. I liked that the story was an inner-dialogue from start to finish, but I suppose I found it more sad than disturbing. "
— Jennifer, 10/30/2010 -
" Funny, sad, and wretched. Might mess you up just a little. "
— Lara, 9/8/2010 -
" Scary, hilarious, brutal, full of brilliant writing. Totally disturbing, though, and not for the faint of heart. "
— Jeff, 8/27/2010 -
" Wow, so great, and at Shauna's recommendation I watched the film immediately after reading. Probably one of the best book-film adaptations I have ever seen. Disturbing, complex, sad, shocking. "
— Lindsay, 2/28/2010
About Patrick McCabe
Patrick McCabe is an Irish novelist known for his dark novels often set in contemporary Ireland. His books include The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto, both of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has also written a children’s book and several radio plays broadcasted by the RTÉ and the BBC Radio 4.