Overview

THE INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025 AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025 ‘A triumph … the funniest novel I've read in years’ SALLY ROONEY ‘One of my favourite books of the year’ JULIA ARMFIELD ‘A funny and frank coming-of age-drama’ OBSERVER ‘Gorgeous … a writer of immense talent’ MICHAEL MAGEE John Masterson has no idea what he wants. It’s his last summer on the small island where he has grown up. He should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through, but instead he's desperately trying to keep his head down after his mother’s nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island. He's doing his best to distract himself with his Gaelic football ambitions, going out with his mates and a blossoming, sort-of, romance with his slightly older co-worker Amber. But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stand out or fit in and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite, or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human. ‘Welcome to the psyche of a teenage boy in all its humorous and hormonal glory’ TELEGRAPH ‘Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney’ VOGUE ‘In 20 years of reviewing, I’m not sure I’ve read a funnier book, or one I’ve enjoyed more’ DAILY MAIL ‘A brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love, friendship and GAA’ IRISH TIMES ‘One of the funniest novels I've read in years … an utter joy to read’ COLIN BARRETT, author of Wild Houses ‘One of my favourite books of the year’ JULIA ARMFIELD, author of Private Rites ‘Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life’ COLIN WALSH, author of Kala John Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was a Irish top ten bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.

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Reviews

‘Fun and Games is a triumph – an irresistible tribute to the agonies of adolescence – and also the funniest novel I’ve read in years’ Sally Rooney, author of Intermezzo ‘John Patrick McHugh captures teenage boyhood in all its darkly comic absurdity’Observer, ‘The 20 Books To Read This Summer’ 'Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney' Vogue ‘I tore through these psychological pages under the spell of a writer at the top of his technical game … McHugh’s writing has the full range: it can be funny, and deeply sad, and at times horribly apt’ Telegraph ‘I’m not sure I’ve read a funnier book, or one I’ve enjoyed more’ Anthony Cummins, Daily Mail ‘A funny and frank coming-of age-drama, propelled by the heart-swelling comic agony of the protagonist’s incapacity to act without second-guessing the consequences for his social rank’ Observer, ‘The best new novelists for 2025’ ‘Young masculinity, romance, class and growing up are all examined in this deft coming of age story from a debut novelist with a real gift’ iNews ‘A darkly comic and deeply moving debut novel’ Irish Examiner 'Wonderfully refreshing' Irish Independent 'One of the funniest novels I've read in years … an utter joy to read' Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses 'A truly gorgeous novel from a writer of immense talent' Michael Magee, author of Close to Home ‘Lyrical and at turns funny and heartbreaking’ Ferdia Lennon, author of Glorious Exploits ‘Charming, funny and sensitive’ Nicole Flattery, author of Nothing Special ‘Fun and Games is blisteringly tender, while being sharp in its observations on class, love, and coming of age’ RTE ‘Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life … a gorgeous, aching whirligig of a novel’ Colin Walsh, author of Kala ‘A gifted writer, McHugh possesses the genius of turning ordinary everyday occurrences into the thoroughly compelling’ Anne Griffin, author of The Island of Longing

Author Information

John Patrick McHugh is from Galway. His work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Winter Papers, Banshee, The Tangerine and Granta and been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He is the author of the short story collection Pure Gold. Fun and Games is his debut novel.

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