The Van

The Van is a 1991 novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle and the third novel in The Barrytown Trilogy, continuing the story from The Snapper (1990). It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize (1991). The basis of the story is that Jimmy Rabbitte Sr. has been laid off from his job and has no money. His friend, Brendan "Bimbo" Reeves also gets laid off and gets a redundancy cheque. With this cheque the two friends decide to purchase a 'chipper' or Fish and... More

The Van is a 1991 novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle and the third novel in The Barrytown Trilogy, continuing the story from The Snapper (1990). It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize (1991). The basis of the story is that Jimmy Rabbitte Sr. has been laid off from his job and has no money. His friend, Brendan "Bimbo" Reeves also gets laid off and gets a redundancy cheque. With this cheque the two friends decide to purchase a 'chipper' or Fish and Chips van. Jimmy and Bimbo's friendship gets strained, because Jimmy starts to believe that Bimbo and his wife Maggie are planning the work behind his back. It continues the themes found in the other two novels of The Barrytown Trilogy and focuses on the elder Jimmy Rabbitte and his efforts at going in to business with friends. Stephen Frears turned it into a film in 1996 starring Colm Meaney as Larry (renamed from Jimmy Rabbitte) and Donal O'Kelly as Brendan 'Bimbo' Reeves who he goes into business with.

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