"Quinn has a way of making ordinary things, the ordinary or wise or inadequate thoughts of many persons in many circumstances not only convincing but merely actual: an ability that can remind a reader of James Joyce in stories like The Dead and in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." – John Crowley (from a new addendum to his original review in the New York Times in … [Read more...] about Peter Quinn’s Novel Redux
Books
Timothy Egan: A Modern Day Pilgrim
By Tom Deignan
In late October, media outlets around the world reported that Pope Francis had expressed support for civil unions, “a significant break from his predecessors that staked out new ground for the church in its recognition of gay people,” as the New York Times put it. It was the latest historic moment for a pope who has excited reformers within the church, while at the same time … [Read more...] about Timothy Egan: A Modern Day Pilgrim
The Pull Of The Stars
By Tom Deignan Best-Selling Dublin-born author Emma Donoghue has a brilliant and timely new novel out. Set in an Irish maternity ward during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, The Pull of the Stars explores the challenges and heroism of nurses and other health care workers, while at the same time tenderly chronicling the loves and losses of their inner lives. Tom Deignan … [Read more...] about The Pull Of The Stars
Bobby Kennedy Has Been Turned into an Impossibly Perfect Hero
By Brian Dooley
He deserves a better judgment As Bobby Kennedy lay dying on a hotel kitchen floor, we’re told his last words were of concern for those around him who had also been shot. “Is everybody okay?” Kennedy asked. These noble, altruistic last conscious thoughts chime with how many people see him – a champion of the poor, “a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, … [Read more...] about Bobby Kennedy Has Been Turned into an Impossibly Perfect Hero
Black and Green Today
By Brian Dooley
More than 20 years ago I wrote a book about the links between the U.S. civil rights movement and the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Black and Green (published in 1998) did okay, reviewers were kind, and some schools and universities in the U.S. and Europe forced their students to read it. What’s surprised me is that two decades on it’s enjoying a mini-revival. Its … [Read more...] about Black and Green Today