Healy, Dermot

The publication of this collection serves Healy scholars as well as readers fundamentally interested in the art of fiction. The pieces exemplify what's possible in fiction and likewise suggest how elusive those opportunities are but for the most capable creators.

Healy's (Sudden Times; A Goat's Song) first novel in ten years is a triumphant return by the author Roddy Doyle considers "Ireland's greatest writer." Philip's voice, at once tender and odd, like Joejoe's slightly out-of-tune accordion, narrates. His easy familiarity with Ballintra's seasonal rhythms, landscapes, and inhabitants credibly shapes the contours of an interior life open to all perceptions and ideas that existence offers him. A beautiful account of one person's acceptance of his own quiet heroism.