The Irish Male: His Greatest Hits

Irish Male Trilogy

by Joseph O'Connor

Book by O'Connor, Joseph

429 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes , The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls , as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction.

He was recently voted ‘Irish Writer of the Decade’ by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this was very funny, and some was thoughtful and moving. One of the best pieces was about the Boomtown Rats, a group I have always ignored, and I think when writing can make you interested in a music group you weren't interested in before, that's something. There was also a number of pieces here that either didn't age well, or were just the same kind of thing he'd already done... because it's a collection of newspaper columns and radio bits, and it can get repetitious... also, he is makes a few Myles na gCopaleen references that I would have missed if I wasn't such a nerd about Ireland. For all my nerdiness, though, there were some contemporary Irish politics references that I didn't get. His politics seem similar to his famous sister's politics, so if you like her song "Black Boys on Mopeds" you'll probably like this book. I think I might take a chance on one of this guy's novels someday.

[Vincent Eaton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only read bits and pieces, as this was a collection of radio bits, and articles and columns and whatnot, which I thought might enlighten my Irish trip. It got samey, and a bit too Irish comic observational obvious.