James Birrell

A brilliant bitter-sweet novel about friendship, romance, love, death and turning thirty. What do you do when a close friend unexpectedly dies? Get everyone together for the party of their lives! Pennance Ward and his great friends, Pine, Stan and Ting, have always hung out together at St Pete's, a cafe bar where they listen to their favourite CDs and enjoy spiralling what-if conversations. When Ting is killed in a random stabbing, the remaining trio must honour their promise to hold the stag-wake they once casually discussed but never really believed they would ever see. The guys set out on a big weekend of dance, drugs, drink, sex, curry and karaoke, ending in a wild road trip. Of course the girls want to come along too, including Ali Fox, a Drop Dead Honey in Pennance's eyes. Could this finally be the moment for Pennance to stop putting life off until tomorrow? Funny, moving and unputdownable, The Manana Man is, above all, a story about friendship in its many forms that will make you laugh, cry and cry laughing.