The Third Policeman

The last O'Brien's books to be published and now reissued by Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliant comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and the view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped."

The Washington Post - Katherine A. Powers

Things could have gone very wrong in transforming the pages of Flann O'Brien's posthumous comic masterpiece into an audio book. Instead, Irish actor Jim Norton has added another dimension of greatness to this incomparable tale of murder, Hibernian natural philosophy and rogue bicycles…If you are already a fan of this brilliant novel, you will be seduced all over again by Norton's performance. If you've never read it, listen and find the world changed forever.

Flann O'Brien, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, also wrote under the pen name of Myles na Gopaleen. He was born in 1911 in County Tyrone. A resident of Dublin, he graduated from University College after a brilliant career as a student (editing a magazine called Blather) and joined the Civil Service, in which he eventually attained a senior position. He wrote throughout his life, which ended in Dublin on April 1, 1966. His other novels include The Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman, The Hard Life, and The Poor Mouth, all available from Dalkey Archive Press. Also available are three volumes of his newspaper columns: The Best of Myles, Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn, and At War.