Listen free for 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Thing About December cover art

The Thing About December

Written by: Donal Ryan
Narrated by: Donal Ryan
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $19.06

Buy Now for $19.06

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

He heard Daddy one time saying he was a grand quiet boy to Mother when he thought Johnsey couldn’t hear them talking. Mother must have been giving out about him being a gom and Daddy was defending him. He heard the fondness in Daddy’s voice. But you’d have fondness for an auld eejit of a crossbred pup that should have been drowned at birth.

While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Village bullies and scheming land-grabbers stand in his way, no matter where he turns.

Set over the course of one year of Johnsey’s life, The Thing About December breathes with his grief, bewilderment, humour and agonising self-doubt. This is a heart-twisting tale of a lonely man struggling to make sense of a world moving faster than he is.

Donal Ryan’s award-winning debut, The Spinning Heart, garnered unprecedented acclaim, and The Thing About December confirms his status as one of the best writers of his generation.

©2013 Donal Ryan (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"A force of nature...a life-enhancing talent." (Sebastian Barry)

"His paragraphs are unnoticeably beautiful, his heart always on show, and he writes with a social accuracy that is devastating." (Anne Enright)

"Painfully moving...Ryan’s work has set a benchmark to which other writers will aspire." (John Boyne)

What listeners say about The Thing About December

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.