Tom Deignan

Late in Joseph O 8217 Connor 8217 s sprawling dazzling new novel Redemption Falls an elderly Columbia University professor watches a procession of aged Civil War veterans march down New York 8217 s Fifth Avenue seven decades after the War Between the States For all the rich history gathered d

Several years ago I was in Rocky Sullivans pub on Lexington Avenue in New York City for one of their famed literary readings The Irish-born writer Colum McCann was said to be unveiling an excerpt from a work in progress By then McCannin such novels as Songdogs and This Side of Brightness and story

In 2002 Pete Hamill scored a bestseller with his novel Forever which told the story of an Irish immigrant granted the gift of eternal lifeso long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan Meanwhile next year Brad Pitt will star in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button based on an F Scott Fitzg

Given the literary scandal that more or less led Edna O rsquo Brien to flee Ireland following the publication of her Country Girls trilogy in the 1960 rsquo s it would have been understandable if she had spent the rest of her life bashing Ireland and writing books about noble outsiders persecuted b