The Anchor Book of New Irish Writing

Jacket Description/Flap: An Anchor Paperback Original An intelligent, sophisticated cross-section of Irish short fiction, ideal for casual readers and classrooms alike, that showcases where Irish writers are now, as well as where they are headed. The contemporary Irish short story, perhaps even more than the novel, provides vital critical clues and guideposts for anyone interested in twentieth-century Irish writing--the Irish, after all, have always been a nation of storytellers, and the current practioners of this ancient tradition are in the process of exploding and rediefining the form. The Anchor Book of New Irish Writing features a group of writers whose influence is already strongly felt in Irish literature, and who deserve to be better known in American, among them Aidan Matthews and Anne Enright. The stories themselves are beautifully written, well-chosen by the editors, and presented in such a way as to guide readers through the fascinating dramatic, structural, and technical themes explored by contemporary Irish stories. The result is a rich sampling of these writers including the work of more familiar ones-from Elizabetth Bowen to Neil Jordan-a collection that promises to introduce the new classics of Irish literature to a wider audience. List of contributors: Elizabeth BowenJohn BanvilleDesmond HoganBernard McLaverty Cherry SmythClare BoylanRita KellyMaeve BinchyAnne DevlinEvelyn ConlonEmma DonoghueAiden MatthewsAnne EnrightPatrick McCabeRohan SheenanMichael O'LoughlinEamonn SweeneyMarcy Dorcey Ellis Ni DhuibhneJoseph O'ConnorColum McCann Neil JordanBiographical Note: John Somer is a professor of English at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, and has long been a student of Yeats and Joyce. John Daly is both an Associate Lecturer at Great Britain's Open University and managing editor at C. J. Fallon publishers in Ireland. Review Citations:

Booklist 03/15/2000 pg. 1326 (EAN 9780385498890, Paperback)

Library Journal 03/01/2000 pg. 89 (EAN 9780385498890, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 02/28/2000 pg. 63 (EAN 9780385498890, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Daly, John John Somer is a professor of English at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, and has long been a student of Yeats and Joyce. John Daly is both an Associate Lecturer at Great Britain's Open University and managing editor at C. J. Fallon publishers in Ireland. Contributor Bio:  Somer, John John Somer is a Professor Emeritus of Emporia (Kansas) State University. His academic interests are the processes of learning and the cultural shifts in literature through time. He has coedited and coauthored twelve academic books, three of which reached a general audience: "The Vonnegut Statement," "Writing Under Fire: Stories of the Vietnam War," and the "Anchor Book of New Irish Writing." He has had a number of jobs, as a farmer, a railroader, a realtor, a janitor, an electrician, a plumber, and a laborer. He has poured cement, roofed houses, laid hardwood floors, dug ditches, and planted many gardens. Upon graduating from college, he returned home, where he lay on the floor, taping many sheets of typing paper together so he could have a strip of paper long enough to hold a time line of the history of the Earth and its peoples. His mother, perhaps in desperation, insisted that he immediately get up off the floor and return to college to become a teacher. That worked out pretty good because he enjoyed learning with his students about the mystery and beauty of literature. There, he also found his wife and a life.