Skippy dies, by Paul Murray

Skippy does die, right there on page 6, at which point you are less than 1% into this looooooong book. Set in an Irish private school, much of the story follows a group of friends, many who are outcasts, and the author has brilliant insights into male adolescence, and arrested adolescence. The adult characters -- teachers, priests, parents -- are similarly well done, but in the end I felt there were just too many plots and diverse characters loose in the pages. Either the book needed an editor, or possibly to have been turned into more than one novel. I liked it well enough to persevere, but not well enough to completely enjoy slogging through to the end. The bullying that goes on in the school, drug use, anorexic girls, and the abuse of boys by their elders, gave it a"snatched from the headlines" feel. I did admire the writing more than this review would indicate. 661 small type pp.