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From its origins in the folk tale, through its evolution in response to changing social and political conditions to its current form, the Irish short story has retained its own distinct and unique form. The finest writers of their time are represented here by their best work, showing the variety of style and approach within the genre. From George Moore's masterpiece, `Homesickness', and the warmth and humour of James Stephens, to the romantic eloquence of Bryan MacMahon, these stories capture the Irish people, their way of life, mythology and history.

The story of the title deals with a little boy named Larry and his feelings towards his father. When his father returns home from World War II, Larry is resentful and jealous of losing his mother's undivided attention, and finds himself in a constant struggle to win back her affections.

Not Quite Poetry is a book of prose, structured poetry and essays describing quantum science, random thoughts on life, friendships and art. Lastly, the words reflect upon a life without the facility of speech taken for granted by most of us.

Sinisteria Begins describes in detail the slow development, over the course of several years, of a large and complex sculptural installation located on the grounds of the Charles E. Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca, New York. Comprised of hundreds of dead, painted tree branches, the work covers and engulfs a hollow, fourteen-foot-tall metal sculpture. This unique and inviting artificial environment exists in harmony with its natural surroundings, while at the same time referencing invasive species, emotional trauma and even string theory.

The story of Frank O'Connor is that of a shy child from a Cork slum who becomes aware that there is something beyond the confines of his life and the lives around him, something grander. And with resolve and labor, he makes his way toward it. From his childhood to the time of his release from imprisonment as a revolutionary, O'Connor conveys the moral fortune and the tragic elements of life, that sparked his storytelling - a life he describes as a "celebration of those who for me represented all I should ever know of God".

Award-winning edition of this outstanding translation of Brian Merriman's eighteenth-century erotic masterpiece. Translated by Frank O'Connor Illustrations by Brian Bourke.

The contents have been intriguingly divided into eight narrative threads that influenced and informed O'Connor's oeuvre. War includes the famous 'Guests of the Nation', set during the Irish War of Independence; Childhood draws on autobiographical writings to present a revealing picture of the author as a boy, the only child of an alcoholic father and doting mother; Writers bears witness to his literary debt to Yeats and Joyce. The stories in Lonely Voices movingly demonstrate O'Connor's theory that in this genre can be achieved 'something we do not often find in the novel - an intense awareness of human loneliness'; yet they are counterparted by his wonderfully polyphonic tales of family, friendship and rivalry in Better Quarrelling. In Ireland come poems, stories and articles inspired by the native land he loved but never sentimentalized, while from Abroad the writer in exile discourses upon universally relevant themes of emigration, hardship, absence and return. Finally, Last Things contains O'Connor's thoughts on religion, the church, the soul and its destiny, but remains above all a celebration of humanity 'who for me represented all I should ever know of God'.