Thomas Murphy

A witty and reflective tale of love, loss, and wonder
An Irishman, a dreamer, a poet—Murph, like Whitman, sings lustily of himself and of everyone. He conjures the islands that have shaped him: Manhattan, his longtime home, and Inishmaan, off the Irish coast. He muses on Oona, his late wife of fiftysome years, and Greenberg, his late best friend. He embraces the living: his scolding, loving daughter and his grandson, a small and delicious replica of himself.
Then into his life comes Sarah, less than half his age and blind, who sees into his heart. Murph finds his querulous self capable of intimacy again. They are drawn to each other by a shared contemplation of joy, beauty, and the suffering world. Through Murph’s often extravagant behavior and observations, both hilarious and profound, we see the world in all its strange glory, equally beautiful and ridiculous.
Behold the charming, wistful, vibrant, aging Thomas Murphy, whose story celebrates the ageless confusion that is this dreadful, gorgeous life.

About the author

Roger Rosenblatt  is the author of six off-Broadway plays and eighteen books, including Lapham Rising, Making Toast, Kayak Morning and The Boy Detective. He is the recipient of the 2015 Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement.

Additional text

“There are no dips or lags in tempo in this novel... Thomas Murphy is a eulogy to a man who has followed his own rules and who has learned to live with his deepest regrets.”

Product details

• Authors: Roger Rosenblatt
• Publisher: Harper Collins Usa
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 31.01.2016, delayed
• EAN: 9780062394569
• ISBN: 978-0-06-239456-9
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION: Literary, FICTION: Women, FICTION: Family Life / General, FICTION: Romance / Contemporary, DRAMA: American / General, FICTION: Family Life / Siblings, FICTION: Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, LITERATURE: GENERAL FICTION, FICTION: City Life, FICTION: Romance / Later in Life