Irish Books

I have read this book in Chinese, and then I decide to get the English press to be my treature. It is very elegant and powerful, describing the history and making elegant, deep interpretation. I consider that it has better than the classic discourse "The Mirror and the Lamp" wrote by M. H. Abrams. The analysis and result from this book is a very important step forward to a splendid literary world.

There are books I try more than usual to have my own copy of. And this is one of them. A brilliant look into the world of English Romanticism. This is not just a literary sketch of the age and its spirit. As the title suggests, it's also about social interaction with the backdrop of the French Revolution. As Butler sees it, Edmund Burke's "Reflections" was "a polemic against intellectuals". And perhaps, Coleridge traveled to Germany to avoid conscription. The rise of German Romantik could have been caused by the social Angst especially among the young adults who ended up jobless in the wake of economic malaise... Butler's grip on all these details is so enticing you simply want to follow her until you see "The End." I have to make it known that this is no page-turner for everyone(despite the rolling but crisp, subtle but lucid sentences) but recommendably for those who have interest in how the period shaped the Romantic ideas and how the poets and novelists were all distinctively and creatively responsive. Still, it can also be read as a great introduction to the social and literary topography of the English Romanticism.

A fascinating book! A must read for anyone that is interested in literary research of the period, or someone interested in learning more about their favorite author. An interesting book to just read on its own as well, since it covers a wide range of ideas and authors. Marilyn Butler's book is a must for the library of any student of literature.

Marilyn Butler is at least as great a literary historian as Ann Douglas, and that means as great as it gets. This book is... well, I do not say an object lesson in writing history, for it is inimitable. Dr.Butler's mind is vast: she can be just and sympathetic both to the stern Toryism of Jane Austen and to the extreme progressivism of Blake or Godwin. Her eye for the peculiarities of a period - even a period that lasted, perhaps, only a few months - is flawless. Her learning is enormous, yet worn lightly; like her Oxford predecessor C.S.Lewis, she can be said to have "read everything, and understood what [she] read". And because her knowledge is so broad, embracing political and social history on both Britain and the continent, she is able to indulge in the wholesale slaughter of sacred cows without being in the least affected, self-indulgent, or attention-seeking. It is simply her sacrifice to the truth. Dr.Butler on the real intellectual origins and significance of Wordsworth, for instance, is a marvellous liberation from generations of nonsense; as soon as one reads her analysis of his derivation from a specific and identifiable strand of eighteenth-century writing, one becomes conscious that this is the truth. And her style is worthy of her content: plain, profound, readable, with not one sentence in the whole book that does not advance the argument or shed further light. Dr.Butler is an Oxford Don, and this is the Oxford manner at its best - clear, unpretentious, comprehensive. This is a fabulously good book, that takes its place alongside Lewis' OXFORD HISTORY OF SIXTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE, Auerbach's MIMESIS, Ann Douglas' TERRIBLE HONESTY and THE FEMINIZATION OF AMERICAN CULTURE as one of the finest pieces of literary history I have ever read.

This is a facsimile edition, but a particularly clear one. There are occasional page blemishes, but no missing pages, distorted pages, or annoying archaic letters (such as s that looks like an f). There is some difficulty from historical or geographic references, as well as odd words, that have no meaning to us today, so there are incidentals that are hard to follow, but the stories as a whole are quite readable. In a way, that is what makes this book hard to read. Not in the physical sense of seeing, but rather in the mental sense of accepting what is read. These were men who suffered, were banished, or even executed in particularly gruesome ways because of their bold preaching. It is a sharp condemnation of our spiritual impotence and latitudinarianism in today's church, even the Reformed church. What king or pope would shiver at the name of any preacher today? Yet, there was a time when the Stuart kings feared for their thrones at the mention of the Covenanters, and they defended their power like vultures struggling over a scrap of carrion.

As with all good Christian biography books, Scots Worthies offers you a glimp into the lives of God's people in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I believe its central message is to amaze you with God's amazing grace towards sinners. This book could have been called the jewels of the Holy Spirit. If you are intrested in God's power to save sinners, then this book is a must for every libary. If you thirst to see the power of God unto salvation, then drink deeply of this book and cherish the fruit that is evidenced in the lives of these godly people.

also describes influx of italians, germans and french fleeing the romish persecutions, similar to foxes christian martyrs.

well done history of the scots reformation movement. many side lights and details of the troubles.portraits & scetches of castles & churches of the times .

The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook is probably the easiest cookbook I've ever tested and reviewed. My family has gotten used to my cooking experiments. They always know when I have a new cookbook. Everyday for a week or two, I'll spend hours cooking up a storm. Then, they'll tentatively try the dishes and give me their verdict on whether I should make it again sometime.

With The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook, I completely confused my family. I cooked and they tried the dishes but the majority of the meals, snacks, and desserts were already familiar to them. They were my old standbys many of which I learned by watching my mother and grandmother cook. I even found a few dishes that I remember enjoying as a kid but couldn't find a way to replicate. Now I have the recipes and I can pass them onto my children and grandchildren.

`The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook' by Scottish / American culinary writer, Kay Shaw Nelson is another cookbook offering by the relatively low-priced, low profile publisher, Hippocrene Books, Inc. which has a large selection of cookbooks about many of the lesser world cuisines in `The Hippocrene Cookbook Library' as well as several books on Scottish and Irish subjects.

I have reviewed a few of these Hippocrene Books and compared to those offerings, this volume is superior to most, although it may not be the very best source for traditional Irish or Scottish recipes. On the other hand, I especially like this book for the fact that it seems to have very good versions of many recipes that may be so common that many flashier cookbooks may not even deign to cover them. My favorite here is the recipe for Scotch eggs, which recently came to fame as a dish prepared on `Iron Chef America' by the `Too Hot Tamales' (Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger) in a battle against Bobby Flay. The recipe made such an impression that while I remember it, I don't remember the secret ingredient or who won the battle.

I also like the fact that there is a much greater similarity between the two Celtic culinary cultures of Scotland and Ireland than there is between, for example the modern cuisines of Spain and Portugal, which some have lumped together. The biggest difference between the two may be the time at which each was influenced by contact with the French. For the Scottish, during the era of Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, when Scotland and France were active allies against Protestant England. For the Irish, it seems to be much later, beginning in the early 20th century, when Ireland first became independent, and preferred to trade with France than their former colonial masters, England.

While every culinary tradition on earth seems to make a case that they are more congenial entertainers and friends of travelers than anyone else, the Irish can document the fact that not only do they really enjoy a good gathering over beer or spirits, there were actually LAWS passed, the Brehon laws of the Gaelic Celts of the 5th century AD, enforcing hospitality toward strangers and travelers.

The chapters in this book are a great reflection of what is important to these Celtic cuisines:

Starters, including meatballs, lots of oysters and prawns, and the famous Scotch eggs. I'm surprised to find a perfect recipe of the shrimp cocktail, which may have come to these shores from Scotland or Ireland instead of the more easily suspected French.
Soups, especially featuring leeks, which seem to be a native and not a French import. The most famous, of course, is Scotch broth, which is heavy with lamb and barley.
Egg and Cheese Dishes, featuring many dishes from the famous Scottish and Irish breakfasts, including that mysteriously named cheese dish, Scotch Rabbit.
Barley, Oats, and Cornmeal with lots of porridges and cold cereals, such as Muesli.
Seafood, including lots of finny animals from freshwater lakes and streams such as salmon and trout. The most famous recipe here may be kedgeree, a rice, fish, and egg casserole. I just wonder exactly how old this recipe actually is, as two important flavorings are Worcestershire sauce and curry powder, two very British ingredients which may be not much more than 150 years in the British Isles.
Poultry and Game recipes look suspiciously like recipes from southwest France (See Paula Wolfert's great study of recipes from this region). This may either be primordial Celtic influence from Europe or later emigration from Protestant France to the British Isles.
Meats includes a lot of beef as in corned beef and cabbage, corned beef hash, and beef tartare, plus lots of lamb dishes and, oddly enough, several hamburger recipes. Makes me think our favorite meaty fast food came from Ireland rather than northern Germany, as its name suggests.
Vegetables is lots of mashed potatoes and what to do with mashed potatoes the day after. It also shows that the Gaelic cuisine is one of the very few outside Japan that features seaweed.
Bread, especially quickbread based scones and soda bread, which don't use yeast, plus boxty, that famous refuge of day-old mashed potatoes.
Cakes and Cookies, oddly, is separated from desserts, possibly because these are recipes for things served at tea and not after a late supper. The highlight is oatmeal cookies and Scottish shortbread.
Desserts features lots of apples, pears, and berries, especially the classic blackberry fool
Drinks, of course.

As a source of both culinary lore and classic recipes, this may be the best available book I have seen on Scotch / Irish comfort food. It may not be quite as good as `Irish Traditional Cooking' by leading Irish cooking school owner, Darina Allen, which the author recognizes as one of the leading authorities on Irish culinary practice, but for a nice little inexpensive package, this book is very, very good. For more information on the intertwining of culinary lore and ancient Celtic celebrations, see `Celtic Folklore Cooking' by culinary writer and folklorist, JoAnne Asala.

This book is easy, warm, and satisfying. Reminds me of home with family, freinds, good food and good conversations. If you like good "pub" feel, buy the book.

The recipes are great! I've done extensive research on Celtic dining and spoken to many a Scottish friends that grew up with the old Celtic Traditions and they agreed this cookbook is great! So far, the recipes i have tried have been outstanding! If you're looking for authentic recipes and enjoy great food... try this cookbook out!

For years I have been watching Seamus Heaney in interviews and wondered to myself, where does all this come from? Not a poet myself, I just intuitively felt there was much more to learn from him than I was grasping. Reading this book opened entirely new avenues of understanding for me, and Ms. Moloney obviously cares deeply for the man's work. Highly recommended!!

I have never read a book of literary criticism cover to cover before, but I found Moloney's book very readable and compelling, even. I had an interest in Ireland's history and in its relationship with England before I began, and I have always enjoyed Arthurian legend. This book correlated with much of what I knew already, filled in gaps I didn't know were there, opened up new ideas, and has sparked my desire to go further in my studies in this area. I am also a new fan of Seamus Heaney's work. I look forward to other publications by Moloney. I loved the discussion on Patricia Coughlan's ideas and wonder if there will be any response from the feminist camp.

Significant works of scholarship have a value that goes beyond research. This is such a book. Professor Moloney's thorough study of Heaney's place among Irish poets and within the Irish mythic tradition actually casts a wider net that includes all of us, embedded as we are in our conflicted sexes and societies, Irish or not. As Ms. Moloney, meticulously shows, Heaney and most other significant Irish poets have been struggling for centuries to come resolve or come to terms with a deep disconnect in the Irish past, as symbolized by the "Feis of Tara," a myth in various forms in which a hag-like mother-fertility figure must be accepted and embraced (sexually) in order to be transformed into a beautiful emblem of hope and fertility that renews a wasted land (country, Ireland). Professor Moloney's work suggests--by extention--that all of us, not just the Irish poets and people--suffer from some kind of similar disconnect and contradition, particularly in our sexual identities, and--by a further extention--in our respective political and historical contexts, regardless of what country we reside in. In short, we too are cut off--from our past, from ourselves, and from members of the opposite sex especially. We all need a reconciliation that will only come if we "effectively conquer" our "fear of the feminine," and achieve "the humility vitally required in our interaction with each other." Heaney's work, and the work of other Irish poets, is central to this imperative, healing objective--which must be achieved if the whole world is not to degenerate into something like the Irish "troubles" (i.e. Civil War) that forms the context within which Heaney is working, particularly. The solution is embodied in Heaney's quest to understand, accept, and then transcend the cultural mythology he inherited as an Ulster poet, conflicted from birth by Ireland's particular and violent disconnect. According to Moloney, Heaney "is linked utterly to his Irish past even as he argues memorably for a world beyond the post-colonial" (and post-patriarchal, if truth be told). Simply put, "it is kindness, after all" that "transforms" us, that frees us from the curses inherent in our cultural inheritances. As another Irish poet, John Montague, puts it, we need to move "beyond male condescension" and "feminist reaction," to "love's equal realm." This is why Moloney's book should be read--in addition to the fact that it also provides and introduction and insight into the work of several other significant Irish poets in addition to Heaney. It is a "hopeful" book in more ways than one.

This is the fourth book of literary criticism on Seamus Heaney I've read so far. Moloney manages to say something new about Heaney's mythologem and places it within its context of Irish literature. I would recommend Moloney's work over the others I've read so far.

THIS BOOK IS THE SECOND BEST BOOK I READ. IM USUALLY NOT A READER BUT THIS BOOK CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. I COOULDNT PUT IT DOWN. I FINISHED IT IN ONE DAY! I WISH IT NEVER ENDED. IT IS A REAL WINNER YOU WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING BEFORE IT ENDS! THUMBS UP TO THE AUTHOR AND HIS BOOKS. HIS FIRST ONE WAS GREAL ALSO.

JOHN PAUL DOES IT AGAIN...with yet another exciting adventure novel that you just can't put down! This book takes the reader from Brooklyn through Staten Island to Northern Ireland. Two brothers risk their lives in an attempt to save two children from the kidnappers' grip in Ireland. The story is filled with action, suspense and intrigue. This book is a sure winner, a must-read adventure novel.

Looking For A Second Chance
Book Review of "A Second Chance"
By Bruce Von Stiers
John Paul Carinci has written a novel about the Mafia taking out insurance policies on the victims of their hit men. Now he is back with a slightly different suspense novel. This one features two brothers from New York who go to Ireland to investigate the kidnapping of a man and his young daughter. The title of his new novel is A Second Chance and was published by Writer's Advantage, an imprint of iUniverse.
Joe Luanturco and his brother Frank have had a career change. After a heart attack, Frank is looking to do something different in his life. Joe is looking for an adventure, or at least something different from his dead end job. An uncle of theirs loans them money to start a private investigation firm. The brothers start out slow with a few tailing jobs that end up with finding sad things out for their clients.
Now the brothers have an all-new case. Thomas Sullivan and his daughter Tiffany are over in Ireland. They seemed to have been kidnapped. Thomas' mother hires Joe and Frank to go over to Ireland and find her son and granddaughter.
What the guys encounter when getting to Ireland is a culture that is a lot different than their own. The Irish have small cars and like to drink a lot. Some of them are really friendly and others not so. Joe and Frank find a quick friend in a young man named Shamus who helps them in their quest to find Thomas and Tiffany.
Another person involved in the case is a psychic back in the U.S. She seems to be having visions about where Tiffany and her father are being held. Joe and Frank rely on her visions to help them with clues to the kidnappers. There is also a young woman named Gerty who is special to Shamus and becomes invaluable to both Joe and Frank.
The novel has some humorous moments in amongst the drama. There is not a lot of sex and violence in the book. We read about the guys getting shot at and having a fight with someone involved with the kidnappers. Frank is happily married and Joe has a serious girlfriend, so there isn't any bed hopping to be found here. As a matter of fact, the guys try to call home often to speak to their loved ones.
A Second Chance was not too bad for a detective novel. Joe and Frank are definitely out of their element when coming to the Emerald Isle. They aren't the world's best investigators, nor are they great adventurers. But the two brothers really want to succeed and get Thomas and Tiffany back safe and sound.
A Second Chance is an easy read and an entertaining mystery. Having to rely on information from a psychic is not investigative traits I would consider an asset, but it works good as a plot device here.
© 2002 Bruce E Von Stiers
www.BVSReviews.com

Looking For A Second Chance
Book Review of "A Second Chance"
By Bruce Von Stiers
John Paul Carinci has written a novel about the Mafia taking out insurance policies on the victims of their hit men. Now he is back with a slightly different suspense novel. This one features two brothers from New York who go to Ireland to investigate the kidnapping of a man and his young daughter. The title of his new novel is A Second Chance and was published by Writer's Advantage, an imprint of iUniverse.
Joe Luanturco and his brother Frank have had a career change. After a heart attack, Frank is looking to do something different in his life. Joe is looking for an adventure, or at least something different from his dead end job. An uncle of theirs loans them money to start a private investigation firm. The brothers start out slow with a few tailing jobs that end up with finding sad things out for their clients.
Now the brothers have an all-new case. Thomas Sullivan and his daughter Tiffany are over in Ireland. They seemed to have been kidnapped. Thomas' mother hires Joe and Frank to go over to Ireland and find her son and granddaughter.
What the guys encounter when getting to Ireland is a culture that is a lot different than their own. The Irish have small cars and like to drink a lot. Some of them are really friendly and others not so. Joe and Frank find a quick friend in a young man named Shamus who helps them in their quest to find Thomas and Tiffany.
Another person involved in the case is a psychic back in the U.S. She seems to be having visions about where Tiffany and her father are being held. Joe and Frank rely on her visions to help them with clues to the kidnappers. There is also a young woman named Gerty who is special to Shamus and becomes invaluable to both Joe and Frank.
The novel has some humorous moments in amongst the drama. There is not a lot of sex and violence in the book. We read about the guys getting shot at and having a fight with someone involved with the kidnappers. Frank is happily married and Joe has a serious girlfriend, so there isn't any bed hopping to be found here. As a matter of fact, the guys try to call home often to speak to their loved ones.
A Second Chance was not too bad for a detective novel. Joe and Frank are definitely out of their element when coming to the Emerald Isle. They aren't the world's best investigators, nor are they great adventurers. But the two brothers really want to succeed and get Thomas and Tiffany back safe and sound.
A Second Chance is an easy read and an entertaining mystery. Having to rely on information from a psychic is not investigative traits I would consider an asset, but it works good as a plot device here.
© 2002 Bruce E Von Stiers
www.BVSReviews.com

Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, in large part because of this book. The poetry isn't archaic or highbrow or needing 80 pages of notes to understand. It's written comfortably and easily, about simple things from his childhood and life.

I bought this to take on a trip to Ireland, and it was fantastic reading it while walking the green meadows and rocky coastline. It breathes Irish air. If you have a love for the misty grasses, or simply enjoy rural, quiet life, read through these poems.

The poems talk of birth, and love, and death, of heather bells and boats in docks. Give them a try, and be swept away in their gentle language.

i thought i'd read a irish writer. i couldn't think of a better choice than heaney. the poems here are subtle, but infinitely brilliant. i love the way he uses mythology in some of the pieces, taking references from dante and homer. he draws from his family life, childhood, and his lifelong experiences to create poems that are wondrous in form and content.

Mr. Heaney's titled poem "Seeing Things" takes us to a fishing trip between father and son. It is a calming journey about childhood, youth and the bond between father and son, and poet and audience. I wish that learning to read poetry is as mystical and unassumingly peaceful as learning to fish with one's parent. My wish may be true.

Perhaps this book represents Heaney's finest poetry since 'Field Work.' It contains the magnificent sequence 'Squarings,' and a continuation of his Glanmore sonnets. The craftsmanship impeccable, the voice down-to-earth.

We remember especially his sonnet on Lent in which the poet deals with 'A fasted will marauding through the body,' and the poem "Wheels within Wheels," where a child spins the pedals of an inverted bicycle and notes "The way the space between the hub and rim / Hummed with transparency." Note the unobtrusive assonances, & the exact right words.

In one of the twelve-line poems of 'Squarings', Heaney counsels himself and other poets: 'Do not waver / Into language. Do not waver in it.' In this sequence, it is Heaney's happy accomplishment to have heeded that counsel in an exemplary fashion. Driving through an avenue or tunnel of trees, arching over a quarter-mile stretch of country road, Heaney sees the trees as 'Calligraphic shocks / Bushed and tufted in prevailing winds.' Could Thomas Hardy or Wallace Stevens have done as well?

Talking about it isn't good enough,

But quoting from it at least demonstrates

The virtue of an art that knows its mind.

When I was producing a video biography of Longfellow for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill in 1992, I needed a one-volume selection of Longfellow's poetry, and this book did the job very nicely. It includes Longfellow's best-known poems as well as two others that were never published during the poet's lifetime but must be classed with his finest work. The introduction by Lawrence Buell provides a useful biographical sketch and a thoughtful discussion of why Longfellow--the most famous American of his time--is not more widely read today. Buell's observations may get you thinking about this schoolbook poet in a different way.

Longellow is the poet of the American public school. 'Evangeline' 'The Courtship of Miles Standish' 'Paul Revere's Ride' ' The Village Blacksmith' ' 'A Psalm of life' and others. His reputation in the nineteenth century was great and overwhelming. Yet his reputation in the realm of poetry today is not with those artists of the canon, Tennyson and Browning in England, and Whitman and Dickinson in the United States. Perhaps it is because his poems are taken to be not inventive enough linguistically. Perhaps it is because the very thing many have praised him for his musicality seems today to be less than the irregular music of a Hopkins or Dylan Thomas.
In any case in Longfellow one will find sound solid lines, a certain moral stance , a kind of American integrity. For someone like myself reading Longfellow is a nostalgic trip and a new perspective on what I read so long ago. He has much to give even if it is not quite at the highest poetic level.

I love this book it is something that men and women would enjoy. I have tons of information on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow because our house is a remake of his he lived from 1807-1882. If I were you I would buy it I am the biggest fan of his I have every single book of poems,songs,and more on him in paperback and hardcover. Buy it!

Whether you are simply exploring an interest in poetry or are a seasoned reader of the great poets, Longfellow's poems will move you. There is a poem in this collection that is perfect for every mood you could be in. If you are down and need to be lifted up, if you simply want to smile about the beauty of life, or if your heart has been broken, Longfellow's works will speak to your heart. Longfellow's works have spoken to my soul as no other poet or writer has ever before.

Yeats lives in the minds of most lovers of great modern poetry through lines of incredible beauty.

"And we will wander hand in hand
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The golden apples of the moon,
The silver apples of the sun.

"We must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag- and- bone shop of the heart"

"But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
and loved the sorrows of your changing face"

"An aged man is but a paltry thing
a tattered soul upon a stick
unless soul claps its hand and sing..

Yeats believed in much nonsense in his life, and apparently was not the kindest of human beings but he wrote some very great poetry.

I picked up this book of poems as an introduction to Yeats and found it to be wonderful. It contains major works from all of his periods and four plays as well. Highly recommended, for poetry lovers and those with only a passing interest.

In 250 years the mass of pablum we currently pass as literature will be blown away like chaff in the wind.

One of the hard and nourishing kernals left on the threshingroom floor will certainly be Yeats.

These are poems not to be read, but learned by heart.

Among my favorites from this collection (with years of composition) are: "The Stolen Child", "To an Isle in the Water" and "Down by the Salley Gardens" (1889); "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" and "When You Are Old" (1893); "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" (1899); "The Folly of Being Comforted" and "Adam's Curse" (1904); "All Things Can Tempt Me", "Brown Penny" and "To a Child Dancing in the Wind" (1910); and "The Cat and the Moon" and "Two Songs of a Fool" (1919).

During a recent fright when we were escaping our apartment down a ladder, I took two books with me, thinking that perhaps I would need something strong. Happily Yeats's SELECTED POEMS AND FOUR PLAYS was at hand, together with, well, something private. This book, edited by the late M.L. Rosenthal, is an expanded edition of a previous book by Rosenthal that had the same title except it was called, SELECTED POEMS AND TWO PLAYS. This present edition doubles the number of plays it prints in one stroke, adding the very late THE DEATH OF CUCHULAIN as well as the strange, feverish THE WORDS UPON THE WINDOW-PANE. Previously we had only the two plays PURGATORY and CALGARY. Did I say CALGARY? I meant, CALVARY, and neither of them are worth the paper they're printed on. In college my professor used to tell us that Yeats, together with his patron Lady Gregory, invented the Abbey Theater and kept it going by writing plays annually and encouraging their society friends not only to attend but to pledge money in exchange for participation in a community-based theater. However, according to Rosenthal, some of Yeats' plays were distinctly unpopular even with this sudsidized theater and neither the actors nor the audience loved them to death.

As a boy, my dad used to quote Yeats on every occasion and he (Yeats) was a patron saint to many Irishfolk. Today not so much, but as I made my way down the ladder I was glad I had the Yeats book tucked into my pants. He is the epitome of the artist who keeps changing through circumstance, open to new influence, even partial to drugs, for many credit his late flowering to the monkey glands he took in Switzerland to rejuvenate his sex life, the precursor to today's Viagra. In his youth he became a member of a secret band called the Order of the Golden Dawn, and spiritualist interests fueled his poetry and politics both. On his honeymoon he discovered that his wife, Georgie, had mediumistic leanings, and they spent many night holding seances and conversing with the spirits of the dead, all of whom, or so Yeats claimed, had arrived to dispense new metaphors for his poetry. He later wrote up these events in his book A VISION.

Rosenthal was a superb editor who went back and checked all of the original manuscripts and who could distinguish Yeats' handwriting in all its different avatars, and this helped him date the poems to within an inch of their lives. His task was made no easier by Yeats' habit of revision and by his need to provide an income for his sisters, who wound up producing elaborate private, limited printings of much of his work to sell to collectors only at absurdly inflated prices. These books are beautiful but useless, like so many of the romantic Irish flourishes the poet's late work commemorates only to condemn. It is a poetry of questions, which always appeals to young people, those who know the answers. "What's water but the generated soul?" (That one always threw me.) "How can we tell the dancer from the dance?" "Is every modern nation like the tower,/ Half dead at the top?" (Makes you think about our nation, caught up in a senseless war against Iraq.) "Those masterful images because complete/ Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?" "What voice more sweet than hers/ When, young and beautiful,/ She rode to harriers?" Riding to harriers doesn't sound so fabulous now, but we've all got something we look back on and say, everything's been changed, changed utterly.

Greeley, in his typical story-telling fashion, traces an overview of American Society in the 1960s. For those who lived those years, it will bring back memories. For those who are too young, September Song will help understand those who lived it.
As Sociologist and observer of USA and Vatican politics, Greeley reveals his attitudes on the events of the 60s through the eyes of the story's narrator, Mrs. Rosemary O'Malley, a witty upper-middle class, liberal democrat matron. Of course, the story has it melodrama. It is fast moving, and drags in everybody who was anybody during that decade. Through Rosemary and the story of her family, Greeley is able to opine on a variety of events that marked American Society: politics post-JFK, Selma and Dr. King, the Vietnam disaster, the hippies and Woodstock, Vatican II, Humanae Vitae, the Chicago Democratic Convention, the feminist movement... I agree with his evaluation of the US government and Papal authority at that time...
I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the memories. They clarify one's own story. Worth reading if you are a Greeley fan, and if you are interested in seeing the 1960s in retrospect.

Author/Father Andrew Greeley and the "Crazy O'Malleys" are back, this time getting through the turbulence of the 1960s at home in Chicago and abroad. The fictional family feels real and gives Father Greeley the opportunity to homilize the era. You gotta love a Priest with the moxie (albeit in Rosemarie's voice) to call the Papal Birth Control Encyclical "the damn thing!" p.214

Here is Chucky's memo to LBJ:
"During my recent trip to Vietnam, an American familiar with the situation characterized it as the greatest foul-up [actually that is not what the real quote says, the original is stronger, but I'm going to save this reviewer and the Amazon.com censors some rounds] in American history. I concur with that evaluation. Nothing I have heard in the briefings or in our discussions has caused me to change my mind. We are trapped in a quagmire that we have created for ourselves. At some point when the public realizes how it has been deceived there will be a demand that someone be blamed. I don't believe there will be any point in a search for blame. Every administration since 1945 made decisions which led with a high degree of probability to the present situation. We could have blocked the French when they tried to return to Indochina after the war. We could have refused to support them in their war against the Vietminh. We could have declined to assume responsibility for that part of the world when they left. We might have refused to send more military assistance in the first year of the Kennedy administration. Yet we did none of these things, indeed we barely considered them. Our decisions about Vietnam were as natural and as logical as our decisions about Greece and Turkey immediately after the war and about Korea in 1950. What is done is done." p.192

And the response?
"However, let it be recorded that on the Ides of March in 1968, the Senior Advisers told [LBJ] that the war could not be won. Any continuation of it over a substantial period of time for whatever reason is absolute folly." "As we all know now the war went on for seven more years. More men died in those years than had already died. They died for a cause that the leadership knew was lost. Terrible harm was done to the whole country." p.197

And what did we learn?
"The talking heads on the screen debated whether the "system" had worked.
"We survived `Nam and Watergate," I said. "Of course it worked."
"We would not have had to survive either," Chuck replied, "if it had not been for two assassins."

Well, maybe two conspiracies of assassins.
Amen, Father.

The latest installment in the saga of the Crazy O'Malley's of Chicago is a time capsule from the 1960's and early 1970's. The book begins with Rosemarie and Chucky just after they met with Lyndon Johnson. Chuck had been Ambassador in Germany during JFK's administration, and both he and Rosemarie still mourn the loss of their President and the end of Camelot. The novel explores their liberal democratic politics as well as their connection with the Catholic Church.

They marched at Selma and met with Martin Luther King. They were at the hotel when Bobby Kennedy was shot. They watched with horrid fascination the Kent State riots. They saw the Vietnam War unfolding on the nightly news. They stood by helplessly unable to protect their oldest daughter as she participated in anti-war riots. Chuck went to Vietnam to take photographs. They were beaten by police during a Chicago convention. Chuck continued to chronicle the times through his photographs and was the official portrait photographer of each President. Somehow, the O'Malley's seemed to have a front row seat for the turmoil of the 60's and 70's. No trend or event of the time is left unmentioned, including Vatican II, the feminist movement, hippies, drugs, and Woodstock.

The O'Malley's are known for their ebullience and love of life, with large, joyous family gatherings featuring much singing and dancing, and that side of the clan is seen frequently throughout the novel. Rosemarie and Chucky, who have known each other since childhood, are still deeply in love and are raising a happy family of 5 children. However, the book is at times somber and grave, as befitted the turbulence and civil disobedience of the civil rights movement and the most unpopular war in American history.

The O'Malley's suffer tremendously when their oldest daughter, April, decides to drop out of Harvard and abandon her capitalistic family and find her own way. They also endure the agony of worry when their oldest son goes to Vietnam. Just when it seems that nothing else can go wrong for the O'Malley's, Greeley brings it all together for a satisfying conclusion and sets us up for the next installment which will be eagerly awaited by those of us who are following the trials and tribulations of the O'Malley's.

Greeley creates the Irish-American Forrest Gump in his delectable SEPTEMBER SONG. Chucky Ducky (a squatty, red headed Forrest) and the beautiful Rosemary are raising their five beautiful children as the events of the 1960s unfold and envelope them. Faithful readers will know more of the O'Malley story from A MIDWINTERS TALE, YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME and A CHRISTMAS WEDDING - as well as a character from one of my personal favorites, IN SEARCH OF MAGGIE WARD. Greeley delivers on his love of humanity, his deep seated faith (if not always an endorsement of the church) as well as a healthy dose of politics and some absolutely awesome music. This is one of those books that I wish had a CD inside! Before the book is over, the reader has either had a trip down memory lane or a history lesson, and feels a part of the Crazy O'Malley family of amazing women and good hearted men.

Shapiro's book is extremely well-documented and follows the recent trend of scholarship on nationalism and its effects on the "Other." It is a fascinating read that never gets weighed down by its own research. I suspect this may have something to do with Shapiro's buoyant narrative, which exudes a sense of wonder of what's being conveyed. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in English history, Jewish history, or simply history in general. It's truly a great study.

Professor Shapiro has since become known as a more popular Shakespearean critic. This book shows his depth as a historical scholar. The book's title understates the breadth of its scholarship. Its subject is important not only to the Shakespearean scholar but to anyone interested in religious history and the history of Jews in the Christian world up to the Renaissance.
Gregory T. Lombardo MD, PhD

The information in this book will astonish one regarding how deeply the English were obsessed with Jews. Because Jews were absent from England for three centuries the English had only the bible and their imagination to inform them about Jews. The Christian bible promoted negative attitudes and the belief that the messiah would come when all Jews became Christians brought up interesting complications that to this day disturb the Vatican! Christianity, the religion of love certainly produced plenty of hate. The analysis of Shylock is extremely interesting and contrary to what we learned in school. The author supplies verses from the original which are usually excluded from present day performances. I now have new insights into Shakespeare and English history.

I learned a great deal from this book. It is well written, serious cultural history. I would recommend it strongly to anyone interested in the period, the Merchant of Venice,and English attitudes toward Jews.