The Deportees - Tapa blanda

"Writing at the top of his form...Doyle proves a brilliant, offbeat Dublin diplomat. He imagines, with humour and humanity, the difficulties involved in being Irish and in being foreign and unassimilated in Ireland. He has the sharpest eye, the wildest sense of humour and the most benevolent heart" (Observer)

"Constantly inventive, extremely funny and illustrate his ability to get under the skin of ordinary people" (Daily Mail)

"It's as if Roddy Doyle went out on the streets for you with his own microphone and camcorder... You're there, whether you want to be or not" (Maeve Binchy The Times)

"The evident sincerity and unrepentant good cheer of these stories will carry the reader a long way with them" (Independent on Sunday)

"Much to admire and enjoy" (Sunday Times)

For the past few years Roddy Doyle has been writing stories for Metro Eireann, a newspaper started by, and aimed at, immigrants to Ireland. Each of the stories took a new slant on the immigrant experience, something of increasing relevance and importance in today's Ireland.

The stories range from 'Guess Who's Coming to the Dinner', where a father who prides himself on his open-mindedness when his daughters talk about sex, is forced to confront his feelings when one of them brings home a black fella, to a terrifying ghost story, 'The Pram', in which a Polish nanny grows impatient with her charge's older sisters and decides - in a phrase she has learnt - to 'scare them shitless'.