Houlihan's Wake and Other Fragments of Mexico by Bryan Murphy

He revels in his disorientation for a moment, then he pulls his light backpack out of the taxi, pays the driver and thanks him. Houlihan clambers out of the taxi into it. There is no sign of beach or sea, only a street of assorted shop-fronts swimming in the heat. “Playa Chisme,” the driver announces as he pulls up. When the taxi goes over the second speed bump, it jolts him into full consciousness.

Houlihan’s Wake is accompanied by further stories and poems set in “Playa Chisme” and elsewhere in the country to provide a rich array of Fragments of Mexico. But can Houlihan’s death-wish do its worst in such a life-affirming place, where the lifeguards are adamant that nobody shall turn their massive party to celebrate a whole year without anyone drowning in Playa Chisme's lethal rip-tides into someone else’s pitiful wake? In Houlihan’s Wake, a young Irishman goes to Playa Chisme, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, determined to die, and determined to do so in a beautiful setting.

To discover more work by Bryan Murphy, visit: The characters are products of the author’s imagination. The pulsating mass of people gave the old town a human heartbeat.Ī group of Sikh football supporters wearing turbans added variety to the Kentish scene, as did a few Raelists in the kind of outfit people back in the mid-20th Century imagined people today would be wearing, though they could not have foreseen how youngsters would change the colours and patterns at will.This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental. From the Bishop’s Offices, it snaked along the lawn in front of the Anglo-Saxon castle that stood next to the Offices, down to the river, and along its banks to the High Street, from which the usual light traffic had been diverted.

When the tall, thin teenager arrived outside the club’s headquarters, the queue was already a lengthy one. To discover more work by Bryan Murphy, visit:Ĭonnect with Bryan Murphy on-line Angels versus Virgins This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental.

Houlihan's Wake and Other Fragments of Mexico by Bryan Murphy