Extended Family: Essays on Being Irish American from New Hibernia Review

by James Silas Rogers (Editor)

A leading journal of Irish Studies, New Hibernia Review opens each issue with a personal essay. For the first time, here is a selection of the finest of these, of which four have been recognized as "Notable Essays of the Year" in Best American Essays. This engaging collection sheds light on the perplexing state of being an Irish American-though the question is usually posed in deflected ways. Often deeply personal, each account in Extended Essays on Being Irish American from New Hibernia Review tackles this question with verve; the conclusions range from the piquant, to the humorous, to the bittersweet. This book marks a welcome re-evaluation of the Irish Diaspora that is sure to challenge and stimulate our current understandings. James Silas Rogers has previously co-edited After the Irish America, 1945 - 1960 and published a poetry chapbook, Sundogs. He is the editor of New Hibernia Review at the University of St. Thomas, and served as president of the American Conference for Irish Studies from 2009 to 2011. "This elegantly written volume, gathered from many voices, shows that "Irish" is in the eyes of the beholder."-Irish Music & Dance Assoc. April 2013 "Luminous meditations on Irish life, heritage and experience... [the book] succeeds as well as it does by offering personal as well as political readings of contemporary Irish American experience."--Irish Voice

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2013

Reviews

[Carola · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays in the book varied widely in their focus. My favorites typically focused on the authors' own family, but that probably reflects my lower level of interest in the names, dates and theories of some of the more academic essays. As a whole, this book left me thinking about the satisfaction of knowing where your home is.

Essays I would read again:
"The Narrows" by Daniel Tobin (poem, not essay)
"Finding Home: Aughkiltubred, 1969" by James Murphy
"Stories from Down Cellar" by Brian Nerney
"We're All Irish: Transforming Irish Identity in a Midwestern Community" by Brigittine M. French
"Lodestone: Following the Emly Shrine" by Charles Fanning
"The Black Hills, The Gorey Road" by Eamonn Wall
"Fearful Symmetry: An Emigrant's Return to Celtic Tiger Ireland" by Maureen O'Connor