The 1992 novel by the Irish author Patrick McCabe - shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize - tells the story of Francis "Francie" Brady, a schoolboy whose life slowly becomes macabre. Set in Ireland in the early 1960s, the novel encapsulates the grim and troubled realities of the time. Described as 'dark, haunting, and often screamingly funny', The Butcher Boy will capture the reader with its extraordinary use of language and slow descent into madness.

"An almost perfect novel… A Beckett monologue with plot by Alfred Hitchcock… Startlingly original."
— The Washington Post Book World

"Stunning… part Huck Finn, part Holden Caufield, part Hannibal Lecter."
— The New York Times Book Review

"Brilliant, unique. Patrick McCabe pushes your head through the book and you come out the other end gasping, admiring, and knowing that reading fiction will never be the same again. It’s the best Irish novel I’ve read in years."
— Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha