The Deportees and Other Stories is the first short story collection[1] by Irish writer Roddy Doyle first published by Jonathan Cape in 2007.[2] All the stories were written for Metro Éireann, a multicultural paper aimed at Ireland's immigrant population and explore their experiences. The stories were written in 800 word chapters and published monthly; as Doyle explains in the foreword to the book:
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | Roddy Doyle |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Marcus Lyon (photo) Stephen Parker (design) |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short stories |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape (UK) Viking (US) Knopf Canada |
Publication date | 2007 |
| Publication place | Ireland |
| Media type | Print & eBook |
| Pages | 242 |
| ISBN | 0-224-08061-X |
The stories have never been carefully planned. I send off a chapter to the Metro Eireann editor Chinedu Onyejelem, and, often, I haven't a clue what's going to happen next, And I don't care too much, until the deadline begin's to tap me on the shoulder. It's a fresh, small terror, once a month. I live a very quiet life; I love that monthly terror.[This quote needs a citation]
Stories
edit- "Guess Who's Coming for the Dinner", a reworking of the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, it concerns a father forced to confront his prejudices when his daughter brings a Nigerian male friend home to dinner
- "The Deportees", a follow-up to The Commitments finds Jimmy Rabbitte, now 36, married with young children forming a new band - this time "no white Irish need apply" and you're out if you like the Corrs. They end up playing Woody Guthrie songs at an Indian 21st birthday party
- "New Boy", a refugee from Rwanda's first day in an Irish school
- "57% Irish", about a doctoral student who devises an 'Irishness' test for immigrants based around responses to disparate Irish imagery including Roy Keane goals and Riverdance
- "Black Hoodie", three teenagers investigate racial profiling in in-store security but get arrested for shop-lifting
- "The Pram", a Polish au pair plots revenge on the family who have treated her so badly
- "Home to Harlem", a quarter black student moves to New York to research how the Harlem Renaissance influenced Irish literature and to search for his black grandfather.
- "I Understand", a Nigerian illegal immigrant is threatened by drug dealers (online text)
Reception
edit- Tim Martin writing in The Independent was surprised at the collections wide range but remarked that some of the stories appeared understandably rushed. He praised its sincerity and 'good cheer'.[3]
- Ian Sansom in The Guardian wrote "The stories are often very funny and rumbustious...When these stories are good, and they often are, they're absolutely hilarious".[4]
- Erica Wagner in The New York Times said "Doyle wrote them in response to the urban legends he’d started to hear about his country’s newest inhabitants: Muslims slaughtering sheep in their backyards, a Polish woman who turns her flat into a brothel. In reacting to such squalid stories, Doyle sometimes goes too far in the opposite direction, and at first it might seem as if there’s something rose-tinted about the view he wants to take...the optimism can seem forced. Sad to acknowledge, perhaps, that it’s the darker stories that work best."[5]
- Cressida Connelly ends her review in The Spectator with "The Deportees may not be Doyle at his very best, but it’s still a highly enjoyable read".
Adaptations
edit- "Guess Who's Coming for the Dinner" first appeared as a 75-minute play performed at Dublin's Andrews Lane Theatre in 2001 as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, it starring Gary Cooke as the father and Maynard Eziashi as the Nigerian.[6]
- "New Boy" was adapted into a short film in 2007 which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film the following year[7] and won several other awards[8]
- Best Irish Short Film - Foyle Film Festival
- Best Short Film - Irish Film and Television Awards
- Best Short Film - Tribeca Film Festival
- Best Short Film - Vail Film Festival
References
edit- ^ http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/RoddyDoyleDeportees.htm White Irish Need Not Apply
- ^ "The Deportees by Roddy Doyle". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ "The Deportees, By Roddy Doyle". The Independent. 15 September 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "Review: The Deportees by Roddy Doyle". the Guardian. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ Wagner, Erica (20 January 2008). "White Irish Need Not Apply". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "Guess Who's Coming For the Dinner, St Andrew's Lane Theatre, Dublin". the Guardian. 8 October 2001. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ New Boy (2007) - IMDb, retrieved 24 July 2021
- ^ "Welcome to New Boy | New Boy". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2011.