Customer Reviews

Conor McPherson: Imagining Mischief (Contemporary Irish Writers) (Contemporary Irish Writers and Filmmakers)

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I'll admit that I have always found McPherson's work to be wildly inconsistent. Some of the plays are great (Rum & Vodka), while I always thought that others, particularly The Weir, were overvalued. My favorite is probably the movie I Go Down. This book does a good job of giving an overview of McPherson's work, and has made me better appreciate some of the plays that didn't originally mean much to me. In fact, Wood's book makes me curious about what the future holds for McPherson. I recommend this book highly.

I found this book to be an excellent study and introduction to McPherson's work. Mr. Wood's analysis seems to be spot-on to me, and he makes some numerous insightful observations. Indeed, this Liffey Series is very good.

Gerald Wood has written an incredibly inciteful book on this young Irishman who has yet to be fully recognised in his mother country. Mr Wood has guided us through the plays and scripts of McPherson and it becomes very obvious from the moment you read the first few pages that this is an author who has tremendous knowledge of the world McPherson comes from. It came as quite a shock to me to discover that Mr Wood is from the US but his ability to understand the concept of "The Irish Author" is remarkable. I can truthfully recommend this book to all students and professors of Irish theatre. It is a concise and very readable book and does not attempt to suffocate the reader with excessive analytical language. I agree with the above reader regarding "I Went Down." This film is one of the best we have ever seen produced in this country on such a limited budget. Hope to see more from MacPherson and Mr Wood in the near future. Excellent!

I'm glad to see McPherson's work getting some study, especially in the US. I found this book to be a great introduction to the Irishman's works, and the author, Wood, seems to really know his stuff. Not only that, but the book is really readable. So much scholarship is poorly written, but this book is clear and intelligent without being confusing. For anyone interested in contemporary Irish writers, this book is a must for your bookshelf.