The Lie of the Land: Irish Identities.

London: Verso, 1997. Hardback octavo, dustjacket, very good plus condition (in very good plus dustjacket), minimal edgewear. 172 pp. This collection of essays by the Irish journalist (Irish Times) is drawn from his writings over two decades. Its portraits of people - talk-show hosts, priests, children, pop stars - and its reports of social and political upheaval, reveal a country still in search of itself, but more at ease with the complexities of its own make-up; a country whose buried memories, tourist myths and current contradictions might now be reworked to forge a truly modern Irish identity. Discusses how Ireland is a country constantly building and rebuilding its own identity, particularly in the 1990s. Ireland has changed to such an extent that it can now boast a greater 1996 per-capita GDP than the UK and a real place in the global economy.