Courtney McGrailThis is an amusing jeux d'esprit from The Irish Catholic film critic Aubrey Malone. This anthology of ripe quotes of the joys of food is a feast of fun for those who are not over enamoured of diets of any kind. Not a book for Weight Watchers, this tasty collection of bonnes bouches will delight…
Category: Reviews
The world of Germany’s Iron Chancellor
Stefan Kornelius devotes much of this lively, detailed biography to Angela Merkel’s life in East Germany, the former German Domocratic Republic (established in the Russian zone after the war), exploring the influence that reviled but often poorly understood place had on her career, her personality, and her political outlook. State socialism, German-style, was repressive and…
Making the most of social media
Social media is becoming a key means of communication and connectivity and it's important to know how to properly utilise these sites to your advantage. While it's safe to say everyone knows about Facebook, not everyone uses it. Some people feel intimidated by how big the website is and are afraid it's complicated to use,…
Tammy- a woman with the inverted Midas touch
Aubrey MaloneThereís no fool like an old fool. When Susan Sarandon appeared in Thelma & Louise in 1991 she pushed back the boundaries of the 'buddy buddy' genre by transferring the emphasis from men (where it had primarily resided before) to women. But now, 23 years on, she's tried to re-heat that particular souffle in a…
Varieties of faith
Peter CostelloJohn Quinn will already be a familiar figure to many readers, from both his days with RTÉ, but also his previous publications including the popular Goodnight Ballivor, I’ll Sleep in Trim. This new book is a collection of encounters with well known figures around the country in very different areas of life. They were asked…
Recollections of a country priest
by J. Anthony Gaughan Former Minister for Education Martin McGuinness once described Canon Patrick Marron as formidable, and so he is. This is clear from Fr Marron’s recollections of his life-long service in the Diocese of Clogher. Born in Carrickmacross in 1932, Marron was educated at the local Patrician Brothers’ school and later in St…
Indian Observations
by Dervla Murphy Dervla Murphy’s account of a walk down Grafton Street would be worth reading. Since the 1960s, when she famously cycled full tilt from Lismore to India, she has been writing about her life and journeys, and has been justly acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest travel writers. On a Shoestring to…
Trapped in our own privacy
We hear a great deal these days about the right to privacy. The European Court ruling on the matter of what can be carried by Google on the internet is only the latest point of controversy. Earlier claims that, for example, the police could not release the names of convicted criminals who had absconded or…
The intimations of mortality: an ode
The Fault in Our Stars (12A) It’s not always a good idea to meet your idols, as they say: the gilt has a habit of rubbing off on your fingers. This is the experience of 18-year-old cancer victim Hazel (Shailene Woodley) after she has an underwhelming rendezvous with Peter van Houten (Willem Dafoe), the ill-mannered author of…
The folk life of old Limerick
Old Church Street: A Memoir of Limerick by Críostóir Ó Floinn (Original Writing, €15.00 + p&p / £5.23 Kindle edition)