Irish America
Irish America
Author and raconteur Frank McCourt, in his autobiography, has "examined his ferocious childhood, walked around it, relived it, and with skill and care and generosity of heart, transformed it into a triumphant work of art," writes Pete Hamill. Frank McCourt has written a triumphant book. His memoir of an Irish childhood is in turns hilarious, heart-scalding, bitterly angry. … [Read more...] about Memoir of an Irish Childhood
Colin Lacey interviews Bernard MacLaverty (photo right) the Belfast writer who penned Cal and Lamb and who has just published a book of short stories. "Some journalists in the North of Ireland are fond of asking me what I'll write about after the Troubles are over. But although peace is absolutely necessary -- and I wish them all success -- pain and suffering and human … [Read more...] about MacLaverty Returns
Irish writer Roddy Doyle's book, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha [Viking Press] won the prestigious Booker Prize last month, and the next day 28,000 copies were sold in England alone. Frank Shouldice profiles the Dublin author, whose movie The Snapper, directed by Stephen Frears, is currently being distributed in the U.S. by Miramax films. Just seven years ago he worked as a primary … [Read more...] about Roddy Doyle Has The Last Laugh
Benediction at the Savoia is the perfect gift for those (teeming masses) who believe that the subculture of Irish America is lathered in Catholicity, drowned in drink, laden with neuroses, and — occasionally — leavened by a titter of wit. And if I am inclined to resist the story, while still standing in admiration at the skill of the storyteller, perhaps it is a measure of my … [Read more...] about Book Review: Benediction at the Savoia
When Wolfe Tone examined the situation of his country in the 1790s, he made what for him was "a great discovery, though I might have found it in Swift and Molyneux, that the influence of England was the radical vice of our government, and consequently that Ireland would never be either free, prosperous, or happy until she was independent, and that independence was unattainable … [Read more...] about Jonathan Swift: A Literary Life
