Penguin Book of Irish Fiction

"In Irish fiction there are no happy families; there is no novel which ends in a wedding. Instead, the tone is melancholy and the theme is brokenness; the stories and novels (and, indeed, the plays and poems) are full of angry fathers, divided families and an overwhelming sense of loss. Some writers such as Swift, or Sterne, or Joyce, or Beckett sought to replace Ireland with a country all of their own making. Others--such as Bram Stoker or Sheridan Le Fanu--reveled in darkness and chaos and fear. Others, such as OscarWilde and Elizabeth Bowen, tried to get away." --from the IntroductionThe Penguin Book of Irish Fiction represents the entire tradition of Irish fiction in English from Jonathan Swift, born in 1667, to Emma Donoghue, born in 1968. It includes the full text of certain key masterpieces such as Gulliver in Lilliput, Maria Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent," Joyce's "The Dead," Beckett's "First Love," and John McGahern's "The Country Funeral" and work by almost one hundred writers. It represents, for the first time in one volume, the entire canon of Irish writing and is likely to become the essential book for anyone interested in Irish literature.Tóibín, Colm is the author of 'Penguin Book of Irish Fiction' with ISBN 9780670891085 and ISBN 0670891088.