Ireland Fiction

Hardcover. London, Harvill Press, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a translucent dust jacket, 165 pages. Illustrated with Steve Pyke's b&w photographs. SIGNED BY BOTH O'GRADY AND PYKE on the title page. Stranded in a dismal flat in England, the protagonist remembers his happy childhood in Ireland, the rough living and working conditions in England, and his only love. The language is quite simple and often Hiberno Irish, but deeply imaginative and so lyrical, that the line between prose and poetry gets blurred. The beautiful black/white pictures added to this book, and the author's ability to portray Irish music help to give an insight into Irish culture. Clean copy.

Hardcover. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 273 pages. Hardcover. SIGNED BY AUTHOR. Decked foreedge. Teal fabric covered, Very clean inside and out. Review from back cover, "There's a cast of characters worthy of a modern-day Shakespeare; bathetic descriptions of using the lavatory that would have had Beckett smiling; and the gods' playful pursuit of women that could be lifted straight from Ovid's The Art of Love. Banville, already esteemed for the brilliance of his language, proves in this novel to have a mastery, too, of these many colliding universes."

NY, Lincoln MacVeagh. Dial Press, 1st US, 1924, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth with gilt lettering on spine and vignette on front cover, 290 pages. A Story of Northern Ireland before the Revolution. Rich in humor and humanity, it was one of the six novels chosen, out of thousands by Harrap, the English publisher for a cash prize. The green cloth has discoloration, washed out splotches mostly to rear cover and part of spine. The interior is clean, binding tight.

Softcover. London, Caliban Books, reprint, 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 308 pages. The Rat Pit is a novel written by Patrick Macgill and published in 1915. The story is set in the slums of Glasgow, Scotland, during the early 20th century, and follows the life of a young woman named Norah Ryan. Norah is a poor Irish immigrant who has come to Glasgow in search of work and a better life. However, she soon finds herself trapped in a world of poverty, violence, and despair. Norah's struggles are compounded by her relationship with a violent and abusive man named Larry Meath. Larry is a member of a local gang, and his criminal activities often put Norah in danger. Despite her fear and desperation, Norah refuses to give up hope and continues to fight for a better life. The Rat Pit is a powerful and gritty portrayal of life in the slums of Glasgow. Through Norah's story, Macgill explores themes of poverty, violence, and the struggle for survival in a harsh and unforgiving world. The novel is a classic of early 20th-Century literature and remains a powerful and relevant work today. Clean copy.