All the Names Have Been Changed

Claire Kilroy

Kilroy's novel captures the lyrical spirit of a romantic Ireland and the downtrodden reality of 1980's rain-soaked, drug-addled Dublin. The reader is propelled through three turbulent terms at Trinity as a class of aspiring writers becomes quickly disillusioned by a troubled tutor. Narrator, Declan, is poetic, blackly humorous and profound - combining a deft use of language and metaphor with a thoroughly engaging story.

Extract

Of course, we were clear that Glynn had not written about us, but that in writing about himself, he had formed us. And because we believed we were of a mind, it led to this misconception that we knew him, that we understood him, and that we loved him. Events thus gained a momentum they might not have otherwise. We thought he would be pleased, and in the beginning he was. Or not so much pleased as gratified.
You may ask how it was that the five of us came together, but you might not, indeed Glynn might not, accept our answer.
We came because he called us.

Parallels