'The Deportees,' reviewed

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

In 1997 literary luminaries like Alice Munro and Mavis Gallant hailed a collection of stories written by an Irish writer named Maeve Brennan Entitled The Springs of Affection Stories of Dublin Houghton Mifflin these stories were set in Ireland and often revolved around young girls or women Th

In 1999 the Modern Library joined the frenzy for Best of lists naming the top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century James T Farrell came in at number 29 with his Studs Lonigan trilogy Young Lonigan The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan and Judgment Day Amid the subsequent sound and fur

In the very useful Penguin Book of Irish Fiction 2000 editor Colm T ib n ultimately selected but one short story from the prolific Benedict Kiely an unenviable task to say the least T ib n chose Homes on the Mountain a modest-seeming tale about a 12-year-old boy and his extended family tw

Ernest Hemingway rsquo s famous comment about taking up a collection and sending John O rsquo Hara off to Yale once for all may have been a cheap shot but it was one O rsquo Hara rsquo s boorish streak nearly begged for In his unorthodox yet enlightening new biography Geoffrey Wolff makes the case

The most startling fact about Edwin O rsquo Connor rsquo s life was its brevity The acclaimed author of such mid-century Irish and Catholic classics as The Last Hurrah and The Edge of Sadness seemed a fit and healthy man Yet he died when he was just 49 in 1968 following a stroke Perhaps more imp