Glorious Exploits

October 1, 2023

Set during the Peloponnesian War but told in contemporary Irish dialect, this debut features two potter friends in Syracuse, Sicily, as thrilled as their compatriots by the unexpected defeat of the invading Athenians but still eager to hear the words of the great Greek playwright Euripides. So off they head to the quarry where Greek POWs are being held to ask them to recite lines. Born of an Irish mother and a Libyan father, rising-star Lennon has been nominated for the Hennessy Emerging Writer Award; this book was bought in the UK after a major auction. With a 75,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 11, 2023
Lennon brings ancient Sicily to life with humor and pathos in his stunning debut. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are being held prisoner in Syracuse after a failed assault during the Peloponnesian War. Two unemployed potters, Lampo and Gelon, decide to recruit some of the prisoners, who have been left to die in quarries near the city, to perform a selection of Euripides’ plays in exchange for food. Gelon, fearing the defeat of Athens could mean the end of its rich history of tragic drama, wants to stage Medea and The Trojan Women, the latter of which depicts the grim aftermath of Troy’s defeat in the Trojan War. Lampo becomes increasingly invested in the project and discomfited by the brutal treatment of Sicily’s vanquished rivals. By giving his leads a sense of purpose during dark and bloody times, Lennon makes the success of their offbeat venture feel important to the reader, and he thoroughly explores the novel’s melancholy central theme—the world is “a wounded thing that can only be healed by story”—all the way up to the gut-punch denouement. It’s not all dreary, though. Lampo’s crackling modern vernacular adds just the right amount of levity, as when he comments on the hot weather: “Even the lizards are hiding, poking their heads out from under rocks and trees as if to say, Apollo, are you fucking joking?” Lennon’s vital tale captivates.

Starred review from January 1, 2024

DEBUT After a disastrous defeat during the Peloponnesian War, thousands of Athenians are imprisoned in the quarries outside of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. Lampo, an unemployed Syracusan potter with a club foot, narrates the story. He and his friend Gelon, fueled by their love of the theater, enlist the captive starving Athenians in staging two tragic plays by the famed contemporary Athenian playwright Euripides. It is an outrageous plan, as the local Syracusan populace nurses a particular hatred for the Athenians. A mysterious benefactor comes to Lampo and Gelon's aid to fund the production, which also includes feeding the malnourished actors. Many Syracusans attend the performance's opening night, and the plays are a success, but then an angry local crowd storms the stage, killing most of the Athenian actors; Lampo and Gelon barely escape with their lives. VERDICT Irish-born Lennon's distinctly modern voice adds levity and wit to this highly recommended narrative about the tragic aftermath of war and the tragic beauty of the human condition.--Henry Bankhead

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2024
Lennon's debut is a wonderfully odd, riotously funny story of two poetry-loving potters in 412 BCE. Lampo, the narrator, and Gelon live in Syracuse after the disastrous Athenian invasion. Faced with many Athenian prisoners of war, the town keeps them all in the quarry, leaving them to slowly and horrifically starve. Lampo and Gelon visit to offer scraps of food in return for lines of poetry. Gelon then proposes the impossible, to stage Medea in the quarry, using the imprisoned Greeks as actors. As they scramble money together, they come across a delectably ambiguous pirate, and they are never more than a few moments away from imbibing lots of wine. Lennon's anachronistic use of contemporary dialogue (particularly the insults and swearing) is often laugh-out-loud funny, and each character has a clearly defined voice and perspective. Though it may not take hold of the reader right away, once it does, it does not let go as this superb novel builds to a page-turning crescendo that evokes the great tragedy the men stage.

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Starred review from February 1, 2024
A lightly historical novel about two friends and a quixotic theatrical project. Lampo is 30, unemployed, living with his mom, hanging with his best friend, Gelon, and frequently torn between self-pity and self-indulgence. He'd work well in a buddy film, except that Lampo lives in the town of Syracuse on the island of Sicily some 400 years before the dawn of the Christian Era. For his debut, Dublin-born Lennon taps a few lines from The History of the Peloponnesian War, in which Thucydides writes of how defeated Athenian soldiers were imprisoned in Syracuse's quarries. As Lampo narrates the tale, Gelon, who's "mad for Euripides," proposes to stage his Medea in one of the quarries, using the prisoners as actors. The obstacles aren't small. The Athenians are purposely underfed and close to starvation. Lampo and Gelon are low on drachmae for costumes and backdrops, not to mention food and drink to keep their cast from that final exit. And attendance is doubtful since most Syracusans hate the invaders from Athens. Lennon initially dwells on the humor in these production struggles (Lampo's squandering of food money on clothes, coiffure, and general showing off is a delightful episode). He traces Lampo's growth in self-awareness while moving what seems at first to be a frivolous tale into ever darker waters. He's economical with period detail and doesn't shy from anachronisms, like "wreck the buzz." His subplots bring pointed complications, including Lampo's love for a barmaid and the usefulness of a wealthy trader. Exploring themes of friendship, loyalty, and the toll of war, Lennon evokes a time when it was common to relish and revere the art of Homer's poetry and Euripides' drama. Those with that appetite today are fortunate to have Madeline Miller, Emily Wilson, Pat Barker, and recently James Hynes' Sparrow. And Lennon. An entertaining and impressive debut.

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