The History Of Magpies
Format:Hardback
Publisher:The Lilliput Press Ltd
Published:31st May '17
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Here are twelve scintillating fresh tales by one of Ireland's leading writers, who has extended and redefined the tradition of the Irish short story with inimitable verbal force. Embedded in Hogan’s uniquely glancing poetic style, they form capsule character studies and micro-histories of society's underbelly, variously located in the streets and back alleys of Edinburgh, London, Zagreb, Cork, Dublin, and in the small rural townscape provinces: Kerry to Limerick, Kinsale, Athlone and beyond, each refracted in compressed jewels of painterly prose that explodes in kaldeiscopic bursts of colour and imagery. These stories are vividly peopled by young homosexuals, Travellers and priests, borstal boys and joyriders, prisoners on remand, hostel dwellers, drinkers and addicts, artisans and the unemployed, and treat their marginalized lives with celebratory dispassion. The story titles alone speak for their milieu: ‘The Big River,’ ‘Café Remember,’ ‘Through the Town,’ “Brimstone Butterfly,’ ’Thornback Ray,’ ‘The Spindle Tree,’ ‘The Metlar,’ ‘Walking Through Truth Land,’ and ‘Famine Rain.’ Here is a writer at the top of his game, documenting an Ireland where few have dared to tread.
This is a troubled collection from a troubled genius whose narrative technique won’t appeal to traditionalists. -- Brian Maye * The Irish Times *
Desmond Hogan in this book is writing at a very high pitch of ambition—he is trying to build the cathedral. The project is immense. -- Kevin Barry * The Stinging Fly *
ISBN: 9781843516668
Dimensions: 216mm x 136mm x 300mm
Weight: 500g
255 pages