I'd been meaning to read one of his novels for ages, and when I saw at the store he'd published a new book a couple of months ago I went ahead and bought it, especially since it starts off with I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn, and so the next morning I traveled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain.

I think I haven't enjoyed reading a book so much in possibly months. While I do love most of the books I read this was one that I just couldn't put down. And no matter how tired I was in the evening, I always found time to at least read another two or three pages.

Someone wrote the book is funnier than on first sight (which is definitely true), and more melancholic than on second sight - which is probably true. The story revolves around an eldery man named Nathan Glass who's waiting to die of cancer, moves to Brooklyn - and finds out his life has only just begun.

I've always had a thing for stories like these, which is probably why my favourite author is Roddy Doyle. I don't care much for heroes, I don't care for Elves and dwarves, I don't care much for crime. What I love most in books is people, ordinary people, and I love to read about them as being heroes, yes, but ordinary heroes in their little worlds, mastering the bigger and lesser challenges of life.

And here's a little excerpt from the book: ( THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES )