John McGahern 
Love of the World 

An enlightening collection of essays, reviews and speeches by 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the Irish novelist everyone should read' (Colm Toibin). 'Wise and compelling … Elegiac and graceful.' David Mitchell'I have admired, even loved, John Mc Gahern's work since his first novel.' Melvyn Bragg Mc Gahern did not spread himself thinly as a writer. Nearly all of his creative energy went into what was central for him: the great novels and stories that are now part of the canon of Irish and world literature. Yet he spoke out when he felt he had something worth saying and his non-fiction writings are of great interest to anyone who loves his work, and to all those interested in the recent history of Ireland. This book brings together all of Mc Gahern's surviving essays, reviews and speeches. In them his canon of great writers – Tolstoy, Chekhov, James, Proust and Joyce – is cited many times, with deep and subtle appreciation. His discussions of Irish writers who influenced him are generous and brilliant – among them Michael Mc Laverty, Ernie O'Malley and Forrest Reid. His interventions on issues he felt strongly about – sectarianism, women's rights, the power of the church in Ireland – are lucid and far-sighted.