The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction [Paperback]

Dermot Bolger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 1995

This dazzling anthology, edited and introduced by Dermot Bolger, is a splendidly comprehensive and up-to-the-minute collection of the finest recent fiction from a nation of master storytellers. This collection of astonishing breadth reveals a literature of genuine global stature, as ancient as the Irish Sea.

Contributors and stories include: John Banville, from Mefisto; Leland Bardwell, "The Hairdresser"; Sebastian Barry, from The Engine of Owl-Light; Mary Beckett, "Heaven"; Samuel Beckett, "For to End Yet Again"; Sara Berkeley, "The Sky's Gone Out"; Dermot Bolger, "The Journey Home"; Claire Boylan, "Villa Marta"; Shane Connaughton, "Ojus"; Mary Dorcey, "The Husband"; Roddy Doyle, from The Snapper; Anne Enright, "Men and Angels"; Hugo Hamilton, from Surrogate City; Dermot Healy, "The Death of Matti Bonner"; Aidan Higgins, from Balcony of Europe; Desmond Hogan, from A Curious Street; Jennifer Johnston, from The Christmas Tree; Neil Jordan, "Last Rights"; Molly Kean, Patrick McCabe, from The Butcher Boy; Brian Moore, "The Sight"; Edna O'Brien, "What a Sky"; William Trevor, "The Ballroom of Romance"; Val Mulkerns, "Memory and Desire"; Robert McLiam Wilson, from Ripley Bogle, and many more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An extraordinary collection of late 20th century fiction by 50 great Irish authors.

From Publishers Weekly

Ireland has never been short of quality writers, but since 1968, the year free secondary education was introduced, a storm of new writing has arisen, much of it approaching the potency of Joyce and Beckett and all of it serving to illustrate the diversity and dynamism of the contemporary Irish experience. The absence of work written in, or translated from, Gaelic notwithstanding, this anthology of short fiction and novel extracts from 50 writers (many previously unpublished in the U.S.) comes as close as possible to capturing the scope and vitality of Irish literature today. The collection opens with a late piece by Beckett, who's credited in the illuminating introduction as an increasingly important influence, and moves through sections arranged in the chronological order in which works are set. The juxtapositions are canny: younger bloods like Neil Jordan and Bernard MacLaverty rub shoulders with well-known writers like Mary Lavin and William Trevor, and the established young writers like Roddy Doyle and Patrick McCabe face off with even younger, but no less promising, newcomers like Bridget O'Connor and Colum McCann. Perhaps most remarkable is the variety of tone, style and topic; going far beyond traditional concerns, the selections show a society flexing its muscles. Sins of omission are inevitable in any anthology?bestseller Maeve Binchy, for example, is absent?but with selections from John Banville, Brian Moore, Edna O'Brian, Colm Toibin, John McGahern, Deirdre Madden, Gerardine Meaney and many more, this is a wide-ranging, highly readable and probably definitive survey of the wealth of talent in Ireland.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (November 14, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679765468
• ISBN-13: 978-0679765462
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Green Clovers. Blue Stars and Lucky Horseshoes!, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction (Paperback)

Look here scribblers. There be lessons in this book if you'd pay attention. RULE ONE: If you are a writer who wants to strengthen your dialogue bits, you can't beat the Irish. Go ahead and steal their techniques. If you write romance, you need good dialogue. If you write science fiction, magic realism, systems style or what have you, you need good dialogue. Story was meant to be expressed through dialogue. That's where it starts and that's where the good writers end up. If you want to reveal character, if you want people to visualize your characters, you need sex (Seeing if you were paying attention) You need good dialogue! These 20th Century Irish writers show that being able to verbally express an idea is the foundation of good storytelling. Take this wonderful collection of voices as your low-cost Rules of Writing then apply your own horror, mystery, lawyer plot. RULE TWO: Skip Bolger's introduction. It's heavy-handed, defensive and utterly inexplicable.

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it, love it!!!, November 12, 2010

By 

C. E. Phelan "cookin' in the desert" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction (Paperback)

I first read this book in 1998 and was struck by the depth of the stories. I continue to enjoy them and am thankful to own the book. If you enjoy short stories, buy it.