Best of Myles (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

Under the pseudonym Myles na Gopaleen, Flann O’ Brien wrote a daily column in the ‘Irish Times’ called ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ for over twenty years which hilariously satirised the absurdities and solemnities of Dublin life.

Reviews

‘Dublin was O'Brien's ground – its talk, whether official bombast, idle pub chat or literary pretentiousness, his medium and his target. Mastery of syntax enabled him to turn plain language to music, while a merciless clarity of mind exposed the comic absurdity of 'those items of mortified language' which are the conversational coin of his Dubliners. A very funny book.’ Sunday Times
‘All those man-years of attendance at Grogan's and the Dolphin filled O'Brien's remarkable 'ear-cup' with curiosa of Dublin talk. A priceless estate-sale of alien and gorgeous vocabulary. Timeless.’ Nicholson Baker
‘Brilliant, morosely inventive comic turns devoted to O'Brien's favourite topics: the literary life, the Gaelic Revival, civil service bureaucracy, booze and its discontent.’ Observer
‘“The Best of Myles” is likely to endure as long as the philosopher's stone, and may indeed be the said article. Readers of taste and perception will pack it in their kitbags long before glancing at the likes of Barthes, Foucault and Umberto Eco.’ Listener