The kiss of life

The master of magical realism and explorer of the wild frontiers of the human mind, Pat McCabe, returns with another work and this time he is looking for support to bring it to the public.

McCabe's new book bears the glorious title 'Poguemahone' and is on unbound.com, the equivalent of crowdfunding for novels, allowing fans of his writing to support him in getting the book printed.

Describing any McCabe novel as “groundbreaking” is a gross understatement. He has consistently tasked the reader with defining what is reality and what is imagination as the central character of all of his books trudges through a world that may, or may not, exist.

With unbound.com McCabe is offering readers a range of options to be part of his latest work. From early proofs, digital editions, hardbacks and even dedications in the printed novel depending on your price range.

The author describes the work as a “600-page ballad, a free verse monologue narrated by Dan Fogarty, an Irishman living in England, who is looking after his sister Una, now 70, and suffering from dementia in a care home in Margate”.

As with any of McCabe novel a linear plot line would bear little resemblance to the journey the reader takes as they survey the world through the mind's eye of individuals with skewed views of existence.

The writer has said of his current offering: "From Dan’s anarchic account, we gradually piece together the story of the Fogarty family. How the parents are exiled from a small Irish village of Currabawn and end up living the hard immigrant life in England.

“How Dots, their mother, becomes a call girl in 1950s Soho, working in the Piccadilly bar run by their legendary Auntie Nano, another exile from Currabawn. How a young and overweight Una, finds herself living in a hippie squat in Kilburn in the early 1970s and becomes infatuated with a two-timing Scottish poet and stoner called Troy McClory, much given to vatic poetry recitals and channelling prog rock vibes.

“How the squat appears to be haunted by vindictive ghosts, who eat away at the sanity of all who live there. And, finally, how all that survives now of those sex-and-drug-soaked times are Una’s unspooling memories, as she sits outside in the Margate sunshine, and Dan himself, whose role in the story becomes stranger and more sinister."

If you would like to be a part of bringing this creative genius's work to the public search Pat McCabe 'Poguemahone' on unbound.com