All Along the Echo: 'One of the best novels of 2022' The Telegraph, *****

Description

'A cyclone of a novel' - Guardian An absolute marvel' - Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny 'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' - Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of Revelation Tony Cooney, a middle-aged radio talk-show host, takes a road trip across Ireland with his producer, Louise (Lou) Fitzpatrick, as part of a publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away to one lucky winner the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Holiday Inns, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest - Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, all of us to discover whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves and each other.

Danny Denton is an Irish novelist, the editor of The Stinging Fly and a lecturer in creative writing at University College Cork. His first novel, The Earlie King & The Kid In Yellow, was published by Granta Books in 2018, and nominated for 'Newcomer of the Year' at the Irish Book Awards. Among other publications, Denton's work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Southword, Granta, Winter Papers, The Dublin Review, Guardian, Irish Times and Big Issue.

One of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph * A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian * Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times * One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny * A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation * An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy * Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time * All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch * Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ni Ghriofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat * Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull * Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times * All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *