--- description: Find out why "The Bee Sting" By Paul Murray is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'The Bee Sting' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf694d5ab34c97b8/698a42034ee2623c2431bea6/TheBeeSting.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # The Bee Sting By Paul Murray by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Dickie Barnes isn’t doing well. Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, the once-wealthy car salesman has been in crisis mode. The economic downturn is one thing, and the growing effects of [climate change](https://time.com/6209432/climate-change-where-we-will-live/ "undefined") are another. He has drained his family’s savings and is building a bunker in the woods to prepare for the apocalypse. Anxiety pervades the household: Dickie’s wife is selling off her possessions to make ends meet, his daughter is drinking her way through high school to cope, and his son is texting a stranger about video games just to feel seen. Irish novelist Paul Murray’s latest is a tragicomedy in the vein of his 2010 best seller _Skippy Dies_. Balancing humor with devastation, he creates a portrait of a fractured family attempting to survive their personal struggles amid what increasingly feels like the end of the world. —_Shannon Carlin_ **Buy Now:** _The Bee Sting_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374600303 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3QsbHim "undefined") The Bee Sting: 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/"},"headline":"The Bee Sting","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:26:04.364Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf694d5ab34c97b8/698a42034ee2623c2431bea6/TheBeeSting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf694d5ab34c97b8/698a42034ee2623c2431bea6/TheBeeSting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/","name":"The Bee Sting"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332726/the-bee-sting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```