The Truth About the Irish

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Matthews, Tom. First published in Ireland by New Island Books. This edition printed in the United States and contains a complete number line including number one. Hard cover with black boards and gold gilt spine lettering in fine condition. Interior text block clean & tight; no writings, no markings noted. Dust jacket in likewise fine condition; bright and shiny. * From the front jacket flap, ""If you're looking for a field guide to leprechauns, ""The Truth About the Irish"" is not the book for you. But if you can handle a frank and funny look into the minds and hearts of the Irish people, you've been touched by that fabled Irish luck.The Irish have one of the most vivid public images in the world, though a remarkably self-contradictory one. They are seen as childlike and devious, genial and aggressive, witty and thick-headed, quick and slow, eloquent and blundering, laid-back and hot-tempered, dreamy and earthy, lying and loyal. So either they're schizoid, or there's more than a bit of blarney to their mystique. Covering all things Irish from St. Patrick to James Joyce, renowned literary and cultural critic Terry Eagleton separates the myths from the reality with his priceless blend of side-splitting humor, caustic commentary and the honest low-down on the beloved and bewildering country of Ireland.""