Collects the best of the author's essays from five decades of the "Irish Times" to reflect a changing culture as well as her observations on such topics as the royal wedding, waitressing, and boring airline companions.

Collection of 12 works of selected Irish fiction, poetry and nonfiction "in a single volume which that recognizes their enormous literary contribution" to English language literature. Biographical notes precede each author's entry.

"Still stinging from his unceremonious ousting from the Garda Siochana, and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look forward to. He is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future non-existent. Until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumour about Jack's...