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Fun and Games

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What to expect

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

A stunning debut novel following a teenage boy as he comes of age on the west coast of Ireland, from the author of the acclaimed story collection Pure Gold.

Seventeen-year-old John Masterson has no idea what he wants. It’s his last summer on the small island where he has grown up and he should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through. Instead, he’s working mind-numbing shifts at the local hotel and trying to keep his head down after his mother’s nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island.

As John joins the local senior football team, gets caught up in fights and parties, and embarks on a tentative relationship with his slightly older co-worker Amber that he feels both proud and ashamed of, he can almost pretend that this summer will last forever. But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stay or leave, 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.

Fun and Games is a darkly comic, beautifully crafted debut novel that is full of feeling both harsh and tender. It takes in social class and its firm borders, manhood and its frailties, family and, of course, love.

'Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney' VOGUE

'A writer at the top of his technical game' TELEGRAPH

'In 20 years of reviewing, I’m not sure I’ve read a funnier book, or one I’ve enjoyed more’ DAILY MAIL

'Warmth and sensitivity, and a skillful humour' GUARDIAN

'Funny and heartbreaking’ FERDIA LENNON

‘Brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love, friendship and GAA' IRISH TIMES

'One of the debuts of the year' iPAPER

'An utter joy to read' COLIN BARRETT

‘A gifted writer' ANNE GRIFFIN

‘Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life' COLIN WALSH

‘Growing up isn’t all fun and games’ SERVICE95

'A remarkable depiction of burgeoning masculinity' REBECCA WATSON

'Totally brilliant and unputdownable' IRISH EXAMINER

John Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was a Irish top ten bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.

Critics Review

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‘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

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‘John Patrick McHugh captures teenage boyhood in all its darkly comic absurdity’Observer, ‘The 20 Books To Read This Summer’

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n 'Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney'n Voguen

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‘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

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‘I’m not sure I’ve read a funnier book, or one I’ve enjoyed more’ Anthony Cummins, Daily Mail

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‘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’

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‘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

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‘A darkly comic and deeply moving debut novel’ Irish Examiner

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n 'Wonderfully refreshing' n Irish Independentn

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'One of the funniest novels I've read in years … an utter joy to read' Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses

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'A truly gorgeous novel from a writer of immense talent' Michael Magee, author of Close to Home

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‘Lyrical and at turns funny and heartbreaking’ Ferdia Lennon, author of Glorious Exploits

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‘Charming, funny and sensitive’ Nicole Flattery, author of Nothing Special

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‘Fun and Games is blisteringly tender, while being sharp in its observations on class, love, and coming of age’ RTE

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‘Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life … a gorgeous, aching whirligig of a novel’ Colin Walsh, author of Kala

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‘A gifted writer, McHugh possesses the genius of turning ordinary everyday occurrences into the thoroughly compelling’ Anne Griffin, author of The Island of Longing

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