Fun and Games
Published on 7. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-00-851737-3 (ISBN)
Description
INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST
'A triumph ... the funniest novel I've read in years' SALLY ROONEY
'A brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love'
IRISH TIMES
'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD
'A funny and frank coming-of age-drama'
OBSERVER
John Masterson has no idea what he wants.
It's his last summer on the small island where he has grown up. He should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through, but instead he's desperately trying to keep his head down after his mother's nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island. He's doing his best to distract himself with his Gaelic football ambitions, going out with his mates and a blossoming, sort-of, romance with his slightly older co-worker Amber.
But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stand out or fit in and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite, or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human.
A book of the year in Observer, Irish Times, iPaper, Vogue, Esquire and more
'Welcome to the psyche of a teenage boy in all its humorous and hormonal glory'
TELEGRAPH
As evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney'
VOGUE
'Gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE
'I'm not sure I've read a funnier book, or one I've enjoyed more'
DAILY MAIL
'Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life' COLIN WALSH, author of Kala
'Funny and heartbreaking' FERDIA LENNON, author of Glorious Exploits
'A gifted writer' ANNE GRIFFIN, author of The Island of Longing
John Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.
SHORTLISTED FOR IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST
'A triumph ... the funniest novel I've read in years' SALLY ROONEY
'A brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love'
IRISH TIMES
'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD
'A funny and frank coming-of age-drama'
OBSERVER
John Masterson has no idea what he wants.
It's his last summer on the small island where he has grown up. He should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through, but instead he's desperately trying to keep his head down after his mother's nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island. He's doing his best to distract himself with his Gaelic football ambitions, going out with his mates and a blossoming, sort-of, romance with his slightly older co-worker Amber.
But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stand out or fit in and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite, or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human.
A book of the year in Observer, Irish Times, iPaper, Vogue, Esquire and more
'Welcome to the psyche of a teenage boy in all its humorous and hormonal glory'
TELEGRAPH
As evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney'
VOGUE
'Gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE
'I'm not sure I've read a funnier book, or one I've enjoyed more'
DAILY MAIL
'Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life' COLIN WALSH, author of Kala
'Funny and heartbreaking' FERDIA LENNON, author of Glorious Exploits
'A gifted writer' ANNE GRIFFIN, author of The Island of Longing
John Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was an Irish top ten bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.
Reviews / Votes
'A triumph - an irresistible tribute to the agonies of adolescence - and also the funniest novel I've read in years' Sally Rooney, author of Intermezzo'McHugh captures teenage boyhood in all its darkly comic absurdity' Observer
'A writer at the top of his technical game ... McHugh's writing has the full range: it can be funny, and deeply sad, and at times horribly apt' Telegraph
'I'm not sure I've read a funnier book, or one I've enjoyed more' Anthony Cummins, Daily Mail
'Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney' Vogue
A writer with gifts to spare' Irish Times
'Young masculinity, romance, class and growing up are all examined in this deft coming of age story from a debut novelist with a real gift' iNews
'Perfectly encapsulates the uncertainty of adolescence' nb. Magazine
'A truly gorgeous novel from a writer of immense talent' Michael Magee, author of Close to Home
'Extremely perceptive about the ways boys can enact a thousand small cruelties while still being capable of fumbling kindness' Julia Armfield, author of Private Rites
'One of the funniest novels I've read in years ... an utter joy to read' Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses
'Funny, sticky, touching and sincere - a Superbad for the Mayo millennial' Ronan Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul
'Lyrical and at turns funny and heartbreaking' Ferdia Lennon, author of Glorious Exploits
'Charming, funny and sensitive' Nicole Flattery, author of Nothing Special
'Blisteringly tender, while being sharp in its observations on class, love, and coming of age' RTE
'Darkly comic and deeply moving' Irish Examiner
'Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life ... a gorgeous, aching whirligig of a novel' Colin Walsh, author of Kala
'A gifted writer' Anne Griffin, author of The Island of Longing
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
270 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-851737-3 (9780008517373)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
John Patrick McHugh
FUN & GAMES EXAIIE PB
Book
04/2025
Harper Collins Publishers - UK Wholesale Acct
€18.00
Available immediately
Person
John Patrick McHugh is from Galway. His work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Winter Papers, Banshee, The Tangerine and Granta and been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He is the author of the short story collection Pure Gold. Fun and Games is his debut novel.