'A brilliant debut...'
Nicola Jeal, The Observer OFM
'Everybody should read this book before they die...'
Dylan Jones, GQ Magazine
'A pacy read...'
Daily Mirror
source - http://www.indiego.co.uk/reviews_jakes_eulogy.asp
Birthday launch for tale with an Ulster twist
Graphic designer Nick Cann was celebrating his 46th birthday today correct by having his first book published.And the Londoner who settled here 17 years ago will be signing copies of Jake's Eulogy (Indiego £6.99) in Easons of Donegall Place on Saturday .
It's the story of what happens after Ulsterman Jake drinks himself to death in Brighton and plans are made to have him brought home to be laid to rest. "His friend Charlie Clarke has to give the eulogy and rings all Jake's acquaintances and close mates to find out more about him," says Cann. "He discovers that there is more to Jake than he thought and that the dead man has been leading a double life."
The story of Jake so impressed Richard Gibson, the 37-year-old proprietor of the Smith and Gibson handmade shirt shop in Belfast and his girlfriend Selina Holland, ex-Christies, that they decided to launch Indiego to publish the book. Selina said: "It's a black comedy and one of our friends, after seeing a proof, described it as the story everyone should read before they die."
The story of Jake becomes more complicated when his body is accidentally switched at the morgue with that of an elderly gent who died at the same time. And the wrong remains are shipped to his home town of Cloverock, Co Londonderry.
Cann, a father of two who once worked as a designer in Fleet Street, added: "Cloverock is really Maghera, a place I know well and there are little bits of various people around Maghera in the story."I enjoyed writing Jake's Eulogy so much that I've nearly finished the sequel."
Trevor Foster, deputy manager at Easons said today: "We don't usually have unknown writers in for a signing, but this book is an exceptional read."
Eddie McIlwaine
source - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=656321
photo by Teresa
Nick Cann was born in South West London in 1959.He is half Welsh, half English and an Irish citizen. Since 1981 he has worked primarily as a magazine and newspaper designer. In 1989 he moved to live in Northern Ireland where he works as a journalist and editorial design consultant. Jake’s Eulogy is his first published novel.
source - http://www.indiego.co.uk/theauthor.asp
Bookring for Jake's Eulogy by Nick Cann
This is my first attempt at a bookring, so here goes....!
Debut novel, signed copy (which is why I want to make it a book ring) when author was at my local bookshop.
Charlie Clarke has been asked to give a eulogy at the funeral of an old college friend, Jake McCullough. Problem: they have had no contact for years and Clarke has nothing to say. In researching his friend's recent past Clarke discovers that Jake has been living a double life...
Jake's Eulogy is a black comedy- a chaotic journey which starts on the south coast of England and follows a winding path to Northern Ireland and back. Along the way come the distractions of lust, hard drinking and dark secrets- all mixed with a cocktail of confusion, mayhem and madness. Nick's website is http://www.indiego.co.uk
peaceangel
source - http://bookcrossing.com/forum/20/2532143/subj_-Bookring-for-Jakes-Eulogy-by-Nick-Cann
YepI have the book at the moment; it's gone to the top of my to-read pile so it'll soon be ready for the next person.
InvisibleAng
source - http://bookcrossing.com/forum/20/2552254/subj_-Yep
'Jake' read at meetup by author
Nick came along to our meetup and read the first chapter of this book to the group, and was received with applause. It was funny and sad, but the rest of the book is even better and I'll not spoil it for anyone! Just add your name and Ang will send it to you.
peaceangel
source - http://bookcrossing.com/forum/20/2552809/subj_-Jake-read-at-meetup-by-author
Yes, I read it and its very funny - dark sort of humour.
Norah
source - http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bookcrossingni/message/125
I've just finished Jake's Eulogy and loved it - the copy I read is Norah's book ring copy, so if anyone else would like to have it next, please add your name to the thread for it in the forum on BC:
http://bookcrossing.com/forum/20/2552254/3/subj_-Bookring-for-Jakes-Eulogy-by-Nick-Cann
Rem and I got to the signing in Eason in Belfast on Saturday, and though they had him in a rather inobvious spot, Nick was very chirpy and managing to attract the attention of various shoppers, a good few of whom who went off happily with signed books. He also said he's trying to get a local radio interview spot, so hopefully that'll add to the attention the book is getting.
Noticing a review of it in Saturday's Belfast Telegraph got me thinking about how once you're aware of a book, references to it jump out at you from everywhere
Ang
source - http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bookcrossingni/message/129
Giving a eulogy at a funeral is on a par with giving the best man's speech at a wedding - it's difficult to hit the right note. At least that's what Charlie Clarke thinks when he's asked to speak at the funeral of his old college friend Jake McCullough. The pair haven't been close for years, and Charlie has plenty of gaps to fill in. There's the small matter of Jake's death - after a massive drinking bout in a hotel room shortly after winning a literary award.No-one seems to know quite what was going through Jake's mind when he ordered up two crates of liquor and a box of assorted crisps, before settling down to drink himself to death. His wife Catherine knew things had been a bit difficult between them, and that Jake had seemed uneasy in his new role as loving husband and father.His best friend Ned is keeping quiet about recent events in Jake's life, and concentrating instead on comforting Catherine. And Jake's family back home in Derry seem bemused - his sister Sinead is convinced he'd been leading a double life. The funny, wise-cracking facade had covered a much darker interior.
Nick Cann's debut novel seeks to explore the hidden, inner life of his hero, as Charlie turns detective in trying to discover as much as he can about his dead friend. But he knows as little as the reader, who only meets Jake in the first chapter, as he's cracking open the Veuve Clicquot and toasting his success as a children's author. He seems a decent kind of guy - funny, self-deprecating, a little melancholy. But the secrets hidden behind his gleaming white grin are enough to set him on the road to self-destruction.He calculates how much drink he'll need to consume to kill himself; orders it in, switches on the racing on telly and settles back with a packet of crisps and a large glass of vodka.
Cann has created a likeable hero in Jake - and it's a shame he doesn't hang around a little longer. His ghost hovers over the rest of the novel, as Charlie endeavours to find the man behind the mask. But he's the one character the reader hopes will return, Houdini-like, before the final chapter. Cann's characters travel from England to Northern Ireland in this black comedy, and on the way they're tripped up by lust, drinking and a lot of confusion. There are a lot of laughs along the way, and some inventive comedy - the idea of the Houston Seventh Day Tabernacle Gospel Choir turning up at a funeral in Inishowen, for example.
Jake's Eulogy is a promising debut from a writer confident of his abilities, whose laidback literary style will appeal to readers. There'll be a lot more from this author in the future. I'd like to have spent a little more time with Jake, all the same.
Grania McFadden
source - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/special_interest/story.jsp?story=656676
