This is a collection of writings from the Irish satirist Flann O'Brien, edited from more than 3000 columns which appeared daily in the "Irish Times" under the pseudonym Myles na gCopaleen. Where previous collections are mere compilations, this collection of wartime columns treats the famous Irishman Myles na gCopaleen and his hectoring associates as the fictional characters they were intended to be. Tracking the shocking disintegration of this bright young writer, philosopher and social commentator, we witness Myles' steady decline, as his sparkling wit darkens in an alcoholic tragedy of the mind.
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Flann O'Brien, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, also wrote under the pen name of Myles na Gopaleen. He was born in 1911 in County Tyrone. A resident of Dublin, he graduated from University College after a brilliant career as a student (editing a magazine called Blather) and joined the Civil Service, in which he eventually attained a senior position. He wrote throughout his life, which ended in Dublin on April 1, 1966. His other novels include The Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman, The Hard Life, and The Poor Mouth, all available from Dalkey Archive Press. Also available are three volumes of his newspaper columns: The Best of Myles, Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn, and At War.
Civil servant and satirist Brian O'Nolan (1911-1966), aka Flann O'Brien (for his comic novels) or Myles na gCopaleen (for his humorous, highly opinionated newspaper column), is resurrected in this collection of his "Cruiskeen Lawn" columns for the Irish Times. Culled from na gCopaleen's WWII period work and never before published in book form, the columns veer from virulent invective to "a good laugh." Jackson notes that "the original reader opening his morning paper had no idea whether Myles was going to amuse, anger, surprise, disgust or bore him," and his selection preserves the chronological order of the original publication in an effort to "restore something of Myles' unpredictability." However, the erratic groupings, tacked together by the editor's enigmatic chapter titles and notes, appear inchoate and limp, compared to other collections of na gCopaleen's columns (The Best of Myles and Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn). Still, na gCopaleen's penchant for offbeat subjects (such as Ibsen's dandruff), his caustic wit ("I am, as you know, an Irish person and I yield to gnomon in my admiration and respect for the old land.") and playful puns ("As for drink, they tell me it gives you a red nose, a complaint that can be passed on to your children. Damn nosa how red it is!") offer a hilarious glimpse of both the meaningful and mundane in WWII Ireland. When the layers are peeled away, they reveal an imaginative comic genius with a genuine gift for language. Hector McDonnell's cartoons add to the hilarity.
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. McDonnell, Hector (illustrator). FIRST EDITION. London: Duckworth, 1999. First edition thus. 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches: pp. 191. Orange and black illustrated cardboard wraps with black, white and lime green type. Very minor thumbing to corners, one corner has a small crease. A few scuffs and scratches. Text is unmarked. Binding crisp, tight. The first collection of Flann O'Brien's World War II columns, which appeared daily in the Irish Times under the pseudonym Miles na gCopaleen. "Flann O'Brien is inventive, his storytelling is swift and sure, making the eccentric seem natural and the commonplace hilarious" - (The Times, review from back of book). 191 pp. Seller Inventory # 415
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