Roscoe – the latest book from Albany author William Kennedy – is a splendid novel: at once an exuberant elegy, a sad comedy, a realistic fable of life and death. In the seventh novel of Kennedy's "Albany cycle," the meshed subjects are the stuff of the real world, from politics to love, corruption to honor. But there is also room for a ghost story (the epitome of a unburied … [Read more...] about Books: Roscoe
Literature
Absolutely Beautiful
Enter any bookstore, be it mom and pop or chain retailer, and there are sure to be stacks upon stacks of coffee table books with Irish photographs. But now comes one so lovely it seems more suited for an auction house than a coffee table. Gerald Hoberman has produced a book of breathtaking photographs that he took throughout the isle and has paired them with the informative and … [Read more...] about Absolutely Beautiful
The Story of the Irish Diaspora Wherever Green Is Worn
The Irish Diaspora is the outworking of two forms of colonialism, those of Mother England and Mother Church. I have been interested since boyhood in what was then known not as the Diaspora, but as emigration. Like nearly every other Irish person of my generation, some of my closest relatives were forced into unwilling emigration. I have always lived near Dun Laoghaire, where … [Read more...] about The Story of the Irish Diaspora Wherever Green Is Worn
Book Reviews
A sampling of the latest Irish books on offer. ℘℘℘ RECOMMENDED The scope of Tim Pat Coogan's latest book Wherever Green Is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora is like nothing he's ever done before -- and perhaps like nothing ever done in Irish history. The esteemed journalist spent the last five years traveling the world, from Japan to Latin America, from Africa to the U.S. … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
Billy Collins as Soul Friend
A visit to Ireland with Poet Laureate Billy Collins. What draws an assortment of poets to Ireland to study with Billy Collins? If you've been to the Beara Peninsula, you understand the allure of this mountainous region in West Cork; if you are familiar with Billy Collins' poetry, its quirky bends and heart-stopping imagery, you would never even ask the question. … [Read more...] about Billy Collins as Soul Friend