July 12, 2020
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
Career criminals Maurice and Charlie wait in the ferry boat terminal in Algeciras, Spain. They have been told that Maurice's missing daughter Dilly will be either arriving on the ferry boat coming from Tangier, Morocco, or departing on one of the ferries going to Tangier. In between handing out missing person flyers and terrorizing the waiting passengers, they reminisce about their long life of crime together.
Kevin Barry won the Dublin IMPAC award in 2013 for his previous novel City of Bohane, set in a gritty Ireland of the not-too-distant future. Night Boat to Tangier is written in the same Irish colloquial dialect, salted with frequent vulgarities. Sometimes it's hard to figure out which of the two main characters is speaking/thinking, since the author doesn't bother with phrases like "Maurice said" or "Charlie replied." If you're easily offended by curse words and disturbed by various types of abuse, Kevin Barry is not for you.
This is my second week of retirement, and it's been hectic to say the least. On Monday, a woman in an SUV hit the front end of my car when she was turning left into a parking lot (or maybe she was trying to make a u-turn). Tuesday was spent finding a repair shop and getting a rental car, a cute little Hyundai Elantra hatchback. Hyundai wasn't on my new-car-buying radar but the Elantra is a small sedan, very quiet and nice to drive. Today I'm venturing out to the library to return a couple of books and to the grocery store for a few items.
On the plus side, my good friend Marj Monaghan stopped by and we had coffee and conversation on my patio in the backyard. She brought a yummy carrot cake and flowers from Whole Foods. It's always so good to catch up with her.
The rescue group (As Good as Gold) has identified an adopter that they think will be a good fit for foster guy Tommy. They are coming to visit him on Tuesday. Is he a cutie or what?
I also talked to Bonnie at the library, who had some good work gossip in addition to needing to vent. She is going to come over and drink wine on the patio one of these days. AND I got the first shipment of wine from Winc - the LIT staff gave me a gift certificate as a retirement gift. So much fun to try different kinds of wine!
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