Cover of The Ginger Man

The Ginger Man

J.P. Donleavy, 1955

Irish and American novelist, 1926–2017.

The Ginger Man is a 1955 novel by J.P. Donleavy. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1959.

  • Critics' Darling

In comic novels and satire

On 2 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
J.P. Donleavy
First published
1955
Length
352 pages (UK paperback)
Awards
Genre
Comic novels and satire, Picaresque, Migration and identity, Class and society

Is The Ginger Man worth reading?

2 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it: 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library) and the National Book Award for Fiction.

ListPlaceOriginal
100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998)No. 99See the list
National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1959)ShortlistSee the list

Best edition of The Ginger Man

The edition we link to is the Abacus paperback (1997), 352 pages.

Publisher
Abacus (paperback, 1997)
Pages
352
ISBN
9780349108759

How critics, prizes and readers rate The Ginger Man

Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 33% of the points available on prize lists, against 10% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
10%
Prizes
33%
Readers and booksellers
0%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like The Ginger Man

If you liked The Ginger Man, try Disgrace, The Tin Drum or The Adventures of Augie March.

Lists used on this page