At the time of his win, Roddy Doyle was better known for the screen versions of his books than for the books themselves. He had already won a BAFTA for The Commitments.

Doyle, shortlisted for the prize in 1991 with The Van, won with a novel taking a year in the life of a misunderstood ten-year-old Dublin boy, Patrick ‘Paddy’ Clarke. Like most of his work, the novel is driven by dialogue rather than plot. Doyle’s reputation as a humourist meant that the poignancy and foreboding in the book came as a surprise to readers expecting something more joshing.

Although all three books in his Barrytown Trilogy have been filmed, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha remains solely on the page. 
 

By
Roddy Doyle
Published by
Secker & Warburg
Roddy Doyle’s funny and poignant novel about a young boy trying to make sense of the world won the Booker Prize in 1993.

The Shortlist

Remembering Babylon
Crossing The River
The Stone Diaries
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Prize winner
Under The Frog
Scar Tissue

The 1993 judges