Wrong Information is Being Given Out at Princeton by J.P. Donleavy

Alfonso Stephen O’Kelly known as Stephen, son of rumoured former bootleggers, ex-naval gunner, unemployed compuser, student of dairy cattle in Wisconsin and of music in Italy, has little to recommend him as a marriage prospect but his tender heart, his chivalry, and his comprehensive knowledge of the great city of New York. So when the exquisitely pneumatic and extraordinarily wealthy Sylvia Triumphington, adored adoptive heiress to the Triumphington family forture, sets her sights on him, Stephen is caught quite off guard …

Wrong Information is Being Given out at Princeton’ is an excellent work, proving Donleavy is still the master of blending pathos and humour.

‘J.P. Donleavy’s narrative voice is unique. Setting him apart from all other writers. With a lyrical pointillism that is fragmented. Painting pictures of incredible poetic beauty. Sad and tender. And then, again, hilarious. Evoking all of one’s senses.’ – Customer review

‘With Donleavy, of course, the usual expectations of happy or sad endings don’t make much sense, so it’s really beyond the point to wonder. Just hang on and enjoy the ride.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘Wistful and witty insight into living in New York and all its wonders, brutalities and banalities.’ – Customer review

‘A more restrained elegiac Donleavy loose in Manhattan.’ – Customer review

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.P. ‘Mike’ Donleavy (1926–2017) wrote more than twenty books after The Ginger Man, including The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B (1968), A Fairy Tale of New York (1973), The Onion Eaters (1971) and Schultz (1979) (all available as eBooks from Lilliput), along with several works of non-fiction such as The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners (1975). He lived along the shores of Lough Owel near Mullingar in County Westmeath.

Watch J.P. Donleavy win the An Post Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.