The Ginger Man (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: J. P. Donleavy
- First Published: 1955
- Type of Plot: Picaresque
- Time of Work: Late 1940’s
- Setting: Dublin and London
- Principal Characters: Sebastian Balfe Dangerfield, Marion Dangerfield, Kenneth O’Keefe, Lilly Frost, Mary
- Genres: Long fiction, Picaresque fiction
- Subjects: Sex or sexuality, Marriage, 1940’s, England or English people, Adultery, Ethics, Adventure, Students or student life, Ireland or Irish people
- Locales: London, England, Dublin, Ireland
The Novel
The Ginger Man presents the slapstick, bawdy, picaresque adventures of Sebastian Dangerfield. Born in St. Louis, Sebastian is supposedly studying law at Trinity College in Dublin on the GI bill sometime after World War II. (J. P. Donleavy was a Trinity student from 1946 to 1949.) He pays no attention to his studies and ignores his responsibilities to Marion, his English-born wife, and Felicity, their infant daughter.
Sebastian is a wild man who behaves reprehensibly: He runs up bills he has no intention of settling, neglects to repay loans from his...
[The entire page is 2283 words long]
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