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Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“A crazy, absurd tale about war, class and art set long ago (412 BCE) and far away (Syracuse, Sicily). The narrator, an unemployed potter with a bit of a habit of putting his foot in his mouth and a fondness for the tavern, agrees to help his friend stage Euripides’ play Medea by recruiting some of the Athenian prisoners left to die in the quarries in exchange for food. A riotous fun listen! ”
— Anne • Newtonville Books
Bookseller recommendation
“How Irish can a novel be, exactly, without even once invoking Ireland or the possibility of Ireland? For answer: see Glorious Exploits. Syracuse, 412 BCE: having brutally routed an Athenian invasion, the Syracusan victors pitch the thousand-odd captured Athenians into a quarry-turned-oubliette. Enter unemployed potters Gelon and Lampo, childhood best friends (and, somehow, Dubliners) who occupy their extremely unemployed leisure hours in trips to 'feed the Athenians' wasting away in the makeshift prison pit. For perpetually buoyant Lampo, this is mere good craic and idle lark; for Gelon, who has hit rock bottom in the most desolate fashion imaginable, this is life or death. With the Peloponnesian War drawing to a close and the cultural light of Hellenic Greece in mortal peril, Lampo soon finds himself at the co-helm of a Euripides production--a medley, with an all-prisoner cast--that might just rescue the ancient world’s greatest tragedian from permanent obscurity. Written entirely in a contemporary Irish dialect, Ferdia Lennon’s debut novel illustrates more than a few sympathies between pub ballad and ancient tragedy (one has to conclude that Plutarch was, at least spiritually, an Irishman). Glorious Exploits is a mythic tribute to the part played by questionable heroes and common rogues in the preservation--and making--of great art. ”
— Reagan • Gibson's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“What a quirky gem of a book that I listened to on audio. I just couldn’t figure out how Lennon was going to pull off this story but he did and I was captivated.”
— Jennifer • East City Bookshop
An utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.
On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.
Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.
Ferdia Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Libyan father. He studied History and Classics at University College Dublin and holds an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. His short stories have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly. In 2019 and 2021, he received Literature Bursary Awards from the Arts Council Ireland. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norfolk, England with his wife and son.
Ferdia Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Libyan father. He studied History and Classics at University College Dublin and holds an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. His short stories have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly. In 2019 and 2021, he received Literature Bursary Awards from the Arts Council Ireland. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norfolk, England with his wife and son.