Kilroy's novel captures the lyrical spirit of a romantic Ireland and the downtrodden reality of 1980's rain-soaked, drug-addled Dublin. The reader is propelled through three turbulent terms at Trinity as a class of aspiring writers becomes quickly disillusioned by a troubled tutor. Narrator, Declan, is poetic, blackly humorous and profound - combining a deft use of language and metaphor with a thoroughly engaging story.