The Oh My God Delusion
978-1-84488-175-8
The Oh My God Delusion is a 2010 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the tenth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. [2]
The title refers to Richard Dawkins's book The God Delusion and to the expression "Oh my God".
Plot
As the economic crisis deepens, Ross and his family continue to struggle financially, with Ross moving to a ghost estate. Additionally, he and his friends face being stripped of their Leinster Schools Senior Cup medals.
Reception
In The Irish Times, Dan Sheehan wrote that, in The Oh My God Delusion, "Howard has taken what should have been a small-scale parody with a rapidly approaching sell-by date and turned it into one of the most enduring satirical figures in the Irish literary canon."[3]
Dublin news website The Liberty scored it 3/4, Alannah McMahon writing that "the novel reads a little stale. It feels as though he has released the same book nine times [sic] and the story hasn’t really gone very far at all. It remains sublime as a social satire, yet as a novel it seriously lacks the imagination and creativity it so sorely needs to remain the phenomenon it has become."[4]
The Irish Independent praised it, but noted that "if there is one quibble with The Oh My God Delusion, it would lie in the not very subtle message that the financial tsunami we're battening down against can have any redemptive features whatsoever. That's the kind of smug bullshit we've had to endure in the last few months from a commentariat that seems secretly delighted that the average proles have had some manners put back on them."[5]
It won the Irish Popular Fiction prize at the Irish Book Awards.[6][7]
In a survey, carried out to mark Eason and Sons' 125th anniversary, The Oh My God Delusion was named Ireland's favourite book.[8][9][10]
References
- ^ "Stock up for the long winter nights". Independent.ie. 5 September 2010.
- ^ O'Carroll-Kelly, Ross (7 October 2010). The Oh My God Delusion. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9780718192082 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Roysh on the money". The Irish Times.
- ^ "Review: The Oh My God Delusion by Ross O'Carroll Kelly". 14 December 2010.
- ^ "Review: The Oh My God Delusion by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly". Independent.ie. 23 October 2010.
- ^ "An Post Irish Book Awards » The Oh My God Delusion by Ross O'Carroll Kelly".
- ^ Kennedy, Eoin Burke. "'Room' wins Novel of the Year award". The Irish Times.
- ^ Bohan, Christine (21 December 2011). "Revealed: Ireland's top 10 favourite books". TheJournal.ie.
- ^ "Oh my God, Ross book voted best ever". www.irishexaminer.com. 22 December 2011.
- ^ Wallace, Arminta. "Loose Leaves". The Irish Times.
- v
- t
- e
- The Miseducation of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (2000)
- Roysh Here, Roysh Now… The Teenage Dirtbag Years (2001)
- The Orange Mocha-Chip Frappuccino Years (2003)
- PS, I Scored The Bridesmaids (2005)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress (2006)
- Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade (2006)
- This Champagne Mojito Is the Last Thing I Own (2008)
- Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box (2008)
- Rhino What You Did Last Summer (2009)
- The Oh My God Delusion (2010)
- NAMA Mia! (2011)
- The Shelbourne Ultimatum (2012)
- Downturn Abbey (2013)
- Keeping Up with the Kalashnikovs (2014)
- Seedless in Seattle (2015)
- Game of Throw-ins (2016)
- Operation Trumpsformation (2017)
- Dancing with the Tsars (2018)
- Schmidt Happens (2019)
- Braywatch (2020)
- Normal Sheeple (2021)
- Once Upon a Time in… Donnybrook (2022)
- Camino Royale (2023)
- Don't Look Back in Ongar (2024)
- Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's Guide to (South) Dublin: How To Get By On, Like, €10,000 A Day (2008)
- We Need to Talk About Ross (2009)
- RO'CK of Ages (2021)
- The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger (2007)
- Between Foxrock and a Hard Place (2010)
- Breaking Dad (2014)
- Postcards from the Ledge (2017)
- The Twelve Days of Christmas (2005)
- Characters