On an isolated estate outside of Dublin, Delly Roche, a fabulously wealthy widow, longs for death and an escape from the memory of her infidelity. She is cared for by her enormously obese companion of 20 years, romance novelist Kitty Flood, and by her adopted son, Dr. George Addison-Blake, who may or may not be deranged. Meanwhile, in a seedier section of town, rent-boy Koz is being wooed by nervous, kindly producer Barry, who wants to date him but is too shy to say so and also wants him to appear on a new, hard-hitting radio show. The show's host, Joe Kavanaugh, is struggling to right himself after succumbing to a noisy, dissolute midlife crisis. These days, Joe's greatest wish is to befriend his gentle immigrant neighbors, who regard him with a certain amount of horror. In gorgeous, discursive prose, Ridgway brings the six characters together in a convoluted plot fairly brimming with paranoia; explosive, bitter humor; and heartbreak. Challenging and often exhilarating reading that offers a shimmering, multifaceted portrait of contemporary Dublin. --Joanne Wilkinson Copyright 2004 Booklist

Tired of the usual format, Joe, a talk-show host on FM 101 in Dublin, Ireland, decides to "look into the corners [to] examine the small...bits of the worlds that we occupy." He finds a junkie, a mentally ill woman, and a gay prostitute (rent boy) whom he wants to interview on his show-the principal act that eventually connects the six lives that award-winning author Ridgway (Standard Time) eloquently portrays here. When the rent boy is kidnapped by the deranged doctor who happens to be caretaker for an enormously wealthy dying widow, all sorts of things happen. Sometimes comic, sometimes profound, this novel is a brilliant tale of how people's lives are connected and of the great need for that connection. Ridgway is a truly talented writer who one hopes will have a very long career. The Parts was voted one of the top 50 Irish novels of all time by the Irish Times and the James Joyce Center; highly recommended for anyone who wants to be entertained, feel fully human, and laugh.-Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.