Puckoon is a comic novel by Spike Milligan, first published in 1963. It is his first full-length novel, and only major fictional work. Set in 1924, it details the troubles brought to the fictional Irish village of Puckoon by the Partition of Ireland: the new border, due to the incompetence of the Boundary Commission, passes directly through the village, with most of the village placed in the independent Irish Free State, but with a significant portion to Northern Ireland.

The protagonist of the novel is the feckless Dan Milligan, a man so lazy that the author is obliged to take direct action to prevent him spending the entire novel lounging about at home; thus alerted to his status as a fictional character, Dan frequently breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the writer about the trouble he has been made to endure.

  Adaptations

  Audio

An abridged audio book version, read by the author, was released on LP and cassette.

  Film

A film adaptation, written and directed by Terence Ryan, was released in 2002. It starred Sean Hughes as the renamed "Dan Madigan" and (after Spike Milligan's poor health prevented him from taking the part) Richard Attenborough as the narrator,^[1] along with several other well-known English, Irish and American character actors including Elliott Gould, Griff Rhys Jones, Milo O'Shea, Marc Sinden, Daragh O'Malley, Nickolas Grace and Freddie Jones.^[2] Jane Milligan (Spike's daughter) appeared in a small role.

  Theatre

Puckoon was adapted for the stage by Vincent Higgins and Zoe Seaton on commission by Big Telly Theatre Company. It toured Ireland from January–March 2009 and again in early 2010.^[3]

  References

  External links

• Official web site for the film
• Puckoon at the Internet Movie Database