The Runts of the Litter

The Runts of the Litter, Austen Breaffa, Pale Blue Books, 1999

Ernest and Jon, an aspiring poet and aspiring actor (emphasis on "aspiring"), are your average broke youth who are summarily thrown out of their flat in present-day Dublin. Instead of putting their deposit toward another flat, they spend it all in a weekend of drunkenness and grandiose plans to remedy their dire situation. They plan to travel to Galway, on the other side of Ireland, go to their landlord's house, and rob him. The fact that they don't know just where in Galway he lives, and have no way to get there, are mere inconveniences.

Along the way, they run into a group of gypsies, whose leader they accidentally kill. In the "wrong" section of Dublin, they are grabbed by a group of anti-drug vigilantes who get too bogged down in parliamentary procedure. In the countryside, they have a conversation with a donkey, with the help of some psychedelic mushrooms. They run into a farmer who, through some scientific experiments on his own, has to deal with a herd of giant cows. They eventually reach the landlord's house in Galway, and find that things aren't always what they seem.

This is a black comedy story that rates pretty high on the "weird meter". Ernest and Jon's adventures get a little repetitive at times, but, for those who want something different in their reading, this is definitely worth a look.