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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Murder is the inciting event; the surreal horror of the world builds to a disturbing reveal
Language
Barely any
No profanity; witty Irish literary prose throughout
Sexual Content
Barely any
No sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
None
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The existential dread of a surreal hell; the horror accumulates slowly through absurdity until the full weight of what is happening becomes clear
What this book is about
An unnamed narrator murders a man for money to fund his obsessive research on the philosopher de Selby—and enters a world of bicycle-obsessed policemen, surreal physics, and infinite horror that slowly reveals itself to be something worse than he feared. Flann O'Brien's posthumously published masterpiece is one of the strangest and most original novels in the English language.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Murder as the opening event
Surreal existential horror—the ending is deeply unsettling
Reader Verification
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