Roddy Doyle "The Commitments"

Doyle has been one of my favorite Irish writers since I visited Dublin a couple years back. Of course, the Irish would always say that Dublin is not Ireland, but well, it's the capital, innit?
Well, so far I've read just three works of his, but nevertheless, I remain a devoted supporter. Of the the three books I have ["The Woman Who Walked Into Doors," (1996) "A Star Called Henry" (1999) and "The Commitments" (1987)] I like "A Star Called Henry" best, but "The Commitments," Doyle's first book, shows  some characteristics of his distinct style.
"The Commitments" is a story of a fictional Irish soul band, members of which, with one exception, are young, unemployed and living in the north side of Dublin. Up to here their story is kind of similar to the one from "The Full Monty," so if you enjoyed the tale of entrepreneurial unemployed Brits, that story might be just what you're looking for.
"The Commitments" end up splitting, but they achieved a minor success when they were still a band. Most importantly, it brought him much joy to perform. The short story (it's not really a novel) was also turned into a successful movie in 1991. On the cover of my book it says that both the book and the movie are "cult" nowadays, but I think it's rather an overstatement. Lots of books are called "cult" these days, which doesn't necessarily make them so. Neverthless, an entertaining read.
Here, on BBC you can listen to Roddy Doyle discuss "The Commitments" in 2004.

 Poster of the film version of the book, directed by Alan Parker

Roddy Doyle