Creedon has already made a name for himself in his native Cork with his 400-episode radio drama Under the Goldie Fish. Now he has written an equally episodic novel, with a blurb as imaginative as the contents: "The backdrop to Passion Play is black, black as a bluebottle's eyeball but the weave of characters is as colourful as a baboon's arse." Surrealism run riot is the order of the day, with the narrative loosely based around the ramshackle life of a character named Pluto, who exists on a daily ration of drink, drugs and an almost indecipherable stream of consciousness monologue. Other low-lifes and down-beats circle around him, like tattered butterflies, shouting, shrieking, cursing and living life at eardrum-shattering level. Not my cup of tea, but Gerry Ryan fans should eat it up.
Vincent Banville
