The Second Half

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To use a sporting cliche, this blisteringly honest book - written in collaboration with Roddy Doyle - is a tale of two halves. An account of the driven Premier League star's career, then an insight into life as a manager. Roy Keane's self-deprecating wit, combined with a take-no-prisoners approach, make for an entertaining read * i newspaper 'The 10 Best Sporting memoirs' * Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. To use a sporting cliché, this blisteringly honest book - written in collaboration with Roddy Doyle - is a tale of two halves. An account of the driven Premier League star's career, then an insight into life as a manager. Roy Keane's self-deprecating wit, combined with a take-no-prisoners approach, make for an entertaining read As part of a tiny elite of football players, Roy Keane has lived and experienced what very few people could ever imagine. His status as one of football's greatest stars is undisputed, but what of the challenges beyond the pitch? How did he succeed in coming to terms with life as a former Manchester United and Ireland leader and champion, reinvent himself as a broadcaster, and cope with the psychological struggles this entailed?

Not sure, not sure. Football is a small world, you will cross paths with people again,” said Keane at last week’s book launch. “But to criticise people who have earned him success … would I forgive him? I don’t know. When you think what he made out of it, millions of pounds, statues. Lots of stuff I let go, but eventually you have to go, enough is enough. You have to defend yourself.” Roddy Doyle. (2012). In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1000114801&v=2.1&u=ucdavis&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w A man admires his wife while she is sleeping, reflecting also on his life with her. The New Yorker, 20 October 2008, The Sunday Times, 15 February 2009." Sleep at the New Yorker" (20 October 2008), The Sunday Times online text If you write a book, you have got to be true to yourself. It's no good just making something up. You have got to show what is in your heart, and what is in your head, and that is what Roy has doneDoyle's next novel dealt with darker themes. The Woman Who Walked into Doors, published in 1996, is the story of a battered wife, Paula Spencer, who was introduced in his 1994 television series Family, and is narrated by her. Despite her husband's increasingly violent behaviour, Paula defends him, using the classic excuse "I walked into a door" to explain her bruises. Ten years later, the protagonist returned in Paula Spencer, published in 2006. It has been a busy year for Roddy Doyle. Not content with scripting the stage version of The Commitments, which is currently at the Palace Theatre in the West End of London, he is knee deep in collaborating on a high-profile memoir with the footballer Roy Keane. Doyle is also involved in a hush-hush new television series that he absolutely can't talk about.

A genuine pleasure; it is a masterpiece of the genre and one that paints, in an entirely unintentional way, an extremely flattering portrait of the man ... Keane is not afraid to laugh at himself by telling stories against himself ... His thoughts on his players are humane, interesting, candid and never less than believable ... Keane's story is of a man, too, one who has had to look at football and life anew as a manager, and it is this added perspective that gives richness and humanity to the tale With the children’s books, he says, he doesn’t seem to be as sure of himself. “I’ve always needed a good editor to nudge the story on. Certainly, if the book’s supposed to be a little bit mad the editors often try to get that little bit more madness in. And that’s all, invariably, grand.” For Roy Keane, it's quite hard to consume the fact that football is mostly business. Technically, it's wrong for any sport and every sport must be considered as a 'sport', but to earn and put food on the table for your family, for sportsmen it's a job and any job is the part of a business. Doyle's writing is marked by heavy use of dialogue between characters, with little description or exposition. [14] His work is largely set in Ireland, with a focus on the lives of working-class Dubliners. Themes range from domestic and personal concerns to larger questions of Irish history. His personal notes and work books reside at the National Library of Ireland. [15] Novels for adults [ edit ]

Chilton, Martin. "Roddy Doyle interview". The Daily Telegraph. 22 September 2011. The 53-year-old Dubliner, who will be the headline performer at the start of the 10-day Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature, said: "I'm an atheist so I suppose that was part of the challenge of writing about a ghost. Strictly speaking, I don't believe in anything. I'm surprised how much Roy Keane's second autobiography made me laugh ... More importantly the book told me that Keane should be the next Manchester United manager. The more I read what he had to say, and his reflections on his two jobs as boss, the more I realised how perfect he would be at Old Trafford

Maybe ‘self-destruct’ is too strong a phrase. Maybe I play games with myself. I have great stability in my life. But then, that worries me. I like home comforts, but then I want to be this hell-raiser – but I want my porridge in the morning. I want my wife and kids around me. I’ve dipped into this madness, and I don’t like it that much. Maybe I’m like every man on the planet – I don’t know; I want a bit more than what’s on offer. Roy Keane's book is a masterpiece . . . It may well be the finest, most incisive deconstruction of football management that the game has ever produced' Mail on Sunday I've just got my copy of The Second Half and although I'm only a couple of chapters into it, it has not disappointed. People have their own opinions of Roy and some would be fearful of him, given how outspoken he can be. I have always judged people how I find them and I can honestly say I have never found a fault in him ... He had a fabulous career and I know I'm going to enjoy reading about it -- Jamie Carragher * DAILY MAIL *Rory and Ita (2002) is a work of non-fiction about Doyle's parents, based on interviews with them. [1]

When Keane says anything, listening is usually the best option. He's scarily extreme, dangerously provocative, oxy-acetylene forthright ... and hugely entertaining ... Self-desctruction, self-pity, self-laceration - his latest unburdening has all this and more. His book reveals more flaws and admits to more mistakes than Sir Alex Ferguson did in his last literary effort - and Keane's is much funnier -- Aidan Smith * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY * Brutally honest, self-deprecating and critical of everyone. Whether you're a fan of Roy or not, you will see a whole new side of him and his views Boland, Eavan. "Roddy Doyle." Irish Writers on Writing. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2007.When Keane says anything, listening is usually the best option. He's scarily extreme, dangerously provocative, oxy-acetylene forthright ... and hugely entertaining ... Self-desctruction, self-pity, self-laceration - his latest unburdening has all this and more. His book reveals more flaws and admits to more mistakes than Sir Alex Ferguson did in his last literary effort - and Keane's is much funnier