Last Night's Fun: In and Out of Time With Irish Music - Hardcover

Carson, Ciaran

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865475156 ISBN 13: 9780865475151

Publisher: North Point Pr, 1997

Synopsis

Each chapter the title of a traditional tune, a celebration of Irish music examines the history, experience, and meaning of the music

About this title

About the Author

Ciaran Carson was born in 1948 in Belfast and works for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He is the author of The Pocket Guide to Irish Music, The Star Factory, as well as five collections of poetry, one of which, First Language, was awarded the T.S. Eliot Prize.

Reviews

Belfast poet Carson also plays the Irish flute. Here he brings together his two arts in an unusual and unusually effective set of short essays. Other books on Irish music categorize its types, provide some song lyrics, and discuss historical context. Carson does all that and more, such as explaining how fiddlers playing together know when one reel is going to segue into the next in a set, telling you how to find the pub where the music will be most freely flowing at night, and advising the best way to cook eggs-and-fry the morning after. Carson brings us into the world of Irish music as only an insider with a fine ear for words as well as for tunes could. Full of zest and passion, spiced with rancor and wit, his book is the closest thing to attending a good session in a smoky bar as you are likely to find on paper. Patricia Monaghan

In this collection of 31 interconnected essays, poet and musician Carson takes the reader into the heart of Irish folk music's culture and ritual. The fine art of the Irish fried egg, the wonders of poteen (homemade Irish whiskey), and Chicago's former police chief Francis O'Neill are just a few of the wide-ranging essay topics, but Carson's impressionistic prose links them all to his experiences as a participant in the traditional Irish music scene. The musicians Carson writes about play on buses and in smoky pubs, learning and passing tunes on by ear and adding their own signature to the ever-evolving music each time a piece is played. Readable and enjoyable, this is nonetheless a book for purists. Those expecting to read about Enya, Altan, or the other recent stars of Celtic music will be disappointed, and general readers may find Carson's earlier Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music (Appletree, 1986) more useful. Still, this is well recommended for larger public libraries and for ethnomusicology collections.?Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: North Point Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865475156
• ISBN 13: 9780865475151
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 197