November 4-10, 2004

artpicks

Oh, Henry

by Mike Newall

Books

The sequel to Roddy Doyle's acclaimed 1999 historical novel, A Star Called Henry, hits stores this week. Oh, Play That Thing (Viking) continues the story of Doyle's morally ambiguous hero, Henry Smart, and offers a rollicking—and painstakingly researched—journey into the underbelly of the American Jazz Age. Doyle spoke to City Paper from his Dublin home.

City Paper: The structure of the book seems similar to a jazz song.

Roddy Doyle: That was the intention. That's particularly why I began to put lyrics and bits of songs into the text. They gave the book a rippling effect backward and forward. I wanted the book to contain the energy of the age, to reflect the discordances, the contradictions, the fun and the chaos of the time.

CP: In The Commitments, you rag on jazz. Since when are you such a fan?

RD: [Laughing] When I wrote those lines in The Commitments, which is 18 years ago now, I agreed with every word. But I had read a review of a Louis Armstrong biography and he sounded fascinating. Eventually I read the book and found myself engrossed by him and the world he was working in. I began to listen to the music all the time.

CP: How difficult was it to capture the dialogue of the 1920s?

RD: I allowed myself to fall back on a lifetime of watching American movies—Bogart, Cagney—and I allowed the rhythm of their speech to intrude. I read a ton of 1920s contemporary fiction, oral histories, Studs Terkel's books, and any other books that would get me closer to the way people spoke. I became Ireland's foremost bore on 1920s America.

CP: Henry seems to be your first main character who's not entirely likeable.

RD: I'm inclined to agree. As a character, I do like him. But as a human being, I'm not so sure. There is a lot to admire about him but there's also a lot that would give me pause. It's been presented as a criticism in some of the reviews I've read but I really don't see it as a valid criticism as all. Narrators don't have to be 100 percent likeable. They have to be human.

CP: Will this still be a trilogy?

RD: Yes, but I've put aside the third volume for now. I am working on a contemporary novel set in Dublin. Dublin has changed so much over the last 10 years or so. I liked the idea of characters wandering around this new place and taking in the new complexities. [Laughing] I was also a bit sick of doing research.

Roddy Doyle reads Wed., Nov. 10, 7 p.m., free, Free Library, Central Branch, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-434