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Explorations of Ireland’s complex identities by one of its leading writers
Moving statues in a rural church, millionaires with global dreams, country and-western fans slaugh-tering sheep at the Halal in Ballyhaunis: images of the real or the surreal? The blurred distinction between the two says much about the contemporary state of Ireland, and about the ways in which a country constantly builds and rebuilds its own identity.
From its sometimes confused sense of place, caught somewhere between Europe and America, Ireland has redefined itself in the 1990s. Often out of necessity (the Irish Church forced to confront paedophilia among its ranks, for example), occasionally through sheer will and bravado, Ireland has changed to such an extent that it can now boast a greater 1996 per-capita GDP than the UK and a real place in the global economy. But the legacy of John F. Kennedy's visit and the relentless wave of emigration it signified, as well as arguments over nationalism, sexual politics and the Church, remain, creating a diverse, energetic and socially engaged community.
This is a highly engaging collection of essays, drawn from Fintan O’Toole's best writings of the last two decades. Its portraits of people — talk-show hosts, priests, children, pop stars — and its reports of social and political upheaval, reveal a country still in search of itself, but more at ease with the complexities of its own make-up; a country whose buried memories, tourist myths and current contradictions might now be reworked to forge a truly modern Irish identity.
“Scintillatingly intelligent journalism Fintan O’Toole is one of Ireland's most talented journalists.” — Terry Eagleton, Observer
“Full of insight O'Toole peers into the soul of Ireland and the Irish: he finds paradoxes on every street, in every field.” — Kieran Cooke, Financial Times
“O'Toole's weapons are laconic wit, a finely tuned sense of the ridiculous or anomalous and a spare, beautiful style. The concentrated energy of these essays, the richness of reference, their mordant humour can only be indicated in quotations: they demand to be read and re-read.” — Roy Foster, European
“A riveting and curious look at the state of Ireland at the end of the century. Heartfelt and passionate, O'Toole's ruminations effectively map a changing Ireland.” — Kirkus Reviews
Fintan O'Toole is one of Ireland’s most talented writers: a columnist on the Irish Times and a regular contributor to the Guardian and Granta. He has written books on the politics of the Irish beef industry and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He is currently living and working in New York as drama critic at the Daily News.
Publication
Cloth: Jan. 1998
Paper: Dec. 1998
192 pages
Cloth
ISBN-13: 978 1 85984 821 0
£6.99 / US$14
