"Not partially, but entirely, genius."
--Jamie O'Neill, author of At Swim, Two Boys
It was published in July 2005 in the United States by St. Martin's Press in New York.
"Funny. Gorgeous. Tender. Angry. Absurd. Tough. And beautifully written. A novel about story-telling, loss, regret, greed, and the human dilemma of memory, The Parts is the sort of book that will take the oxygen out of the air for readers of Eugenides, DeLillo, Hemon, Zadie Smith and so many others." --Colum McCann, author of Dancer and This Side Of Brightness.
"The Parts is the finest and most truly funny Irish comic novel since At-Swim-Two-Birds", Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times.
“A darkly comic masterpiece peopled with unforgettable characters . . . Written with charm, wit and a huge amount of energy, The Parts is a rare achievement.” Attitude
“Dublin is a city built not just of bricks and stone, but of words ... Keith Ridgway’s literary heritage is Dublin, his ancestors are its great verbal architects, and his third novel contributes to its mythical texture ... Ridgway’s novel is an aria not only to the beautiful catastrophe that is Dublin, but also to the fractured capital of the heart." Time Out
“Ridgway indulges in rich, exuberant description of those small moments of hesitation, indecision, fear and confusion on which hinge the real action of people’s lives, his swift-footed style allowing him to do so with elegance and breathtakingly funny accuracy.” Anthea Lawson, The Observer
“… this is a novel that simply bursts with energy and incident, with a crowded cast of vivid characters and some enormously enjoyable comic scenes. In that respect one might conclude that The Parts is its own happy ending, a ringing affirmation of our ability to find something in each other’s stories – at least when they are so ebulliently well told.” Michael Kerrigan, TLS.
"There is nothing obvious about The Parts, nothing predictable. It’s a full book, managing to be many things at once – contemporary and timeless, with places specific and universal, and underpinning it all, like a flickering beacon of hope, is an understated, welcome humanity.” Joanne Hayden, Sunday Business Post.
"The are wonderful comic payoffs involving salted pistachios and a very nasty Versace top, while the panoramic ending snags your breath. It's also a kind of hymn to dirty oul' Dublin, a city like "a million kittens in a sack, down by the river". Ridgway brilliantly identifies its squirming appeal." David Jays, The Guardian.
Click the cover to buy The Parts from Amazon.co.uk