Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Hi everyone, this is Og Maciel from Bellwether, here with your weekly book recommendation, which comes out every Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed last week’s episode. This week, I’m super excited to recommend a new book: "Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray¹.

The book was published in 2010, but it wasn’t until this summer that I actually got my hands on a copy and started reading it. If you’re a fan of movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Superbad, or any movie about schools where a bunch of kids get together and get into mischief, I think you’re going to really like this book. It has a little bit of everything.

The main character, Daniel “Skippy” Juster, is a 14-year-old who goes to the Seabrook School for Boys in Ireland. The story takes place during the fall and spans about 600 pages. It’s told from several points of view by different characters. So, just to give you a taste: Skippy loves video games and is totally into them. He’s also in love with this girl, Lori, who is a super fan of a Britney Spears-like singer. He has a family secret that we don’t really get to until the very end of the book, but it’s something that definitely keeps him apart and makes him a target for getting picked on by other kids at school.

Then there’s Ruprecht, his roommate. He’s super into science and string theory, plays the French horn, and gets easy grades because he’s just that smart. Ruprecht is also supposed to be the kid who eats a lot, always carrying around a box of donuts—funny guy, too. Another key character is Howard “The Coward” Fallon, who graduated from Seabrook and reluctantly returns as a teacher. But nobody really respects him because of his nickname, “The Coward,” which the book explains how he earned. He spends a lot of his time trying to figure out how to get through to his students. Then there’s a substitute teacher who comes along and reignites his passion—not just for her, of course, but for teaching and adding value to the school and its students. She creates a pivotal moment for him.

There’s also Carl, a psychotic kid who deals with drugs and is not the kind of person you want to be around, trust me. He’s also in love with Lori, so you can already see where that’s headed, right? Carl and Skippy eventually have a showdown over Lori. The book also delves into the priests who run the school, with strong suggestions of sexual abuse and harassment—things you have to read the whole book to see unfold. There’s a new school principal who has plans to modernize and transform the school, seeing it as old and in need of making more money. Then there are other kids who want to be rappers or have talents like lighting their farts on fire. The book also features a dance where the boys from Seabrook get to mingle with girls from the school across the street, and a hilarious talent show with plenty of cussing and funny dialogues.

The characters are really well-defined, and as I read the book, it reminded me of several people I’ve met in my life. For instance, there was a time when I worked at a pharmaceutical place, fresh out of college, and I worked in the basement of this big building. We never saw the sunlight during winter because we’d arrive before the sun came up and leave after it had set. There was this guy who was at least 20 years older than everyone else—most of us were fresh out of college. He was always trying to be hip, using the same slang, claiming he was listening to the same music. Sadly, it was obvious that it was all forced, which was kind of funny in a not-mean way. We used to joke that one day we’d read in the paper that this guy had done something serious, something criminal. Every time he showed up, we’d look at each other, thinking, “Is this the time we’re going to learn the truth?”

The book also brought back memories of dance parties, gathering the courage to ask girls to dance. It really reminded me of a lot of things I’ve done in the past. This book has it all—a little bit of everything. I want to share a short quote from the book. It’s about this kid, Mario, who’s from Italy and goes to Seabrook. He claims to be super obsessed with sex, always bragging about how many girls he’s been with. There’s this scene where they’re getting ready for the fall dance, and he’s talking about his “lucky condom.” One of the kids says,

“Yeah, Mario, your wallet is like the Alcatraz of condoms. It’s like the condom Bermuda Triangle.”

They’re just making fun of him because he’s had this lucky condom in his wallet for three years and never used it. There are a lot of gems like that in the book, with really nice dialogues.

So, the book recommendation for this week is "Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a comment and let me know if you’re enjoying these audible episodes, and if I should keep doing them or not.

Until next week, keep reading!