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  • Stand-upheroes

    Six of the best (clockwise from top left): Tommy Tiernan, Eddie Izzard, Doug Stanthope, Daniel Kitson, Chris Lynam and Phil Kay As the Edinburgh Fringe gets under way, Kevin Gildea gives a comic's perspective on the best comedy he's seen there over the past decade p

  • Smiling through the paint

    Travelling fairs and the circus fascinated Jack B Yeats - along with that well-tried cultural icon, the tragic clown, writes Aidan Dunne p

  • Shoegazing looks up again

    'Shoegazing' has shaken off the image of bands who just stare at the ground while playing and is hip again, writes Jude Rogers p
Arts

  • The richness of Roma in European culture

    Culture Shock: The Roma people are the classic example of the way cultural impact can co-exist with political and social contempt p

  • Taking control of the stage

    On The Town: A bigger, better and fatter edition of The Irish Theatre Handbook was unveiled at the Project Theatre in Dublin this week. "This book matters, not only as a guidebook for ourselves but because . . . it's a testament to our work," said director, writer and actor Alan Stanford , who launched the fourth edition of the handbook. p

  • Lawyers celebrate stamp of approval

    On The Town: Two new stamps to commemorate the legal work of the King's Inns, which stretches back 400 years, and the Registry of Deeds, which goes back 300 years, were launched in Dublin this week. Judges, barristers and philatelists were among those who came to salute the two organisations. p

  • Intellectual gymnastics in Clare

    On The Town: The 40th Merriman Summer School is for those who have a love of Co Clare, a longing for a particular ind of past and a desire for intellectual engagement. p

  • Ale fellow well met

    On The Town: Brewers and connoisseurs of beer and cider talked about the business of brewing - flavour, fermentation, kegging, malting and pressing - at the launch of Beer and Cider in Ireland: the Complete Guide , by Iorwerth Griffiths , in Dublin this week. p

  • High roads and low lead to Edinburgh

    ArtScape: It's the end of July and anyone interested in theatre, comedy, literature, film or jazz must be thinking about heading towards Edinburgh next month for the largest arts festival (in fact, several simultaneous festivals) in this part of the world. p
About UsBack to Top

  • Giving America cúpla focal

    A new book claims the Irish language gave America such slang words as dude, dork and jazz, writes Kate Holmquist p

  • Word up: how the hybrid became hip

    Boogaloo A 1960s dance performed with fast swivelling shuffling movements; to move fast. Bogadh luath Moving fast; moving quickly; fast rocking p

  • Backing the broadleaves to save our soil

    Another Life Michael Viney Watching the steady hosing of the hills this summer, their daily gloom threaded with a filigree of swollen cascades and waterfalls, I have wondered what nourishment could possibly be left in the upland soils of the west. p

  • Green gathering

    Horizons Sylvia Thompson Long-standing environmental activists and recent converts to the Green agenda will gather in Woodbrook House, Killanne, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford for the Irish Green Gathering from August 17th-19th. The event, which is hosted by Giles and Alexandra Fitzherbert of Woodbrook House, is billed as a low-budget, family-friendly, not-for-profit festival run on renewable energy only. p
Book ReviewsBack to Top

  • A star in her own right

    Biography Two biographies underline the difficulties faced by the woman who would be president, writes Maureen Gaffney p

  • Bring back the Cheeches

    Short Stories Woody Allen's new book is a mixed bag, but when he's on form, he's still hard to beat, writes Claire Kilroy p

  • Daniel and the Mammy

    Memoir Is there any point in wondering if The Mother's Story, by Julia O'Donnell, would have seen the light of day were it not for her famous son? From a marketing point of view this type of "bandwagon book" is a low-risk venture - ready-made fan base equals ready-made sales. p

  • Monarch of all he surveys

    Feature Brian Lynch is getting used to living in the State guest house at Farmleigh, where he is writer-in-residence this summer. Here he writes about life with an address in the Phoenix Park p

  • Handling the truth

    Fiction Even when recognising the imperative to at least pretend to be beyond both critical fright and personal prejudice, the book reviewer may at some point have to face a bête noir that is sure to incite self- defensive dread: sheer piles of pages. The novel, it seems, has been particularly beastly to the reviewer in this regard. It is the genre that above all others regularly elicits the but-life-is-too-short remonstration. Though reviewing is not an area of writing generally steeped in self-reflection, some great literary reviewers, who usually move cockily or blithely between the piles, have on occasion stopped to reflect in horror. p

  • Traditional western thrills in modern Japan

    Fiction There can't be too many people who have ever wondered what would happen if you transplanted Philip Marlowe to south Japan, but for those who have, Escape From Amsterdam is probably as close as they're going to get.  p

  • Tales of guilt and atonement

    Fiction Gail Jones has a story to tell and a big point to make, writes Eileen Battersby p

  • Tricks of the trade in PR battle

    Public Relations The editors of this wittily titled book are sociologists from Strathclyde University and they set out their stall with admirable clarity. Not only is the subtitle "Corporate PR and the Assault on Democracy", but the first sentence reads: "public relations was created to thwart and subvert democratic decision-making". p

  • Riordan lands Hartnett poetry prize

    LooseLeaves Caroline Walsh Maurice Riordan's poetry collection The Holy Land is this year's winner of the Michael Hartnett Award. Born in Lisgoold, Co Cork and now living in London where he teaches at Imperial and Goldsmith colleges, The Holy Land is the third book of poetry from Riordan (right), the previous ones being A Word from the Loki (1995) and Floods (2000). p

  • Paperbacks

    A selection of paperbacks reviewed p
Seen & HeardBack to Top

  • A provocative platform

    TV Review Hilary Fannin 'You've got a lovely arse," said the silky groom, a line of charlie glistening on the cistern lid, a bottle of Bolly dangling from his manicured fingers. p

  • Endless murder talk dominates the airwaves

    Radio Review Bernice Harrison There's surely a PhD in there for someone in how the media generated an appetite for coverage of the Rachel O'Reilly murder and then helped the hungry public gorge on the story. p

  • The US campaign snowballs

    Present Tense Shane Hegarty There are plenty of ways to jazz up a political debate, but a snowman asking a question about global warming is about as novel as they've come. p
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