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John Ryan, Anthony Cronin, Brian O’Nolan, Patrick Kavanagh and Tom Joyce on Sandymount Strand on Bloomsday 1954. Who ever decided that James Joyce was ‘fun’? Donald Clarke - Chief Film Correspondent Donald Clarke Chief Film Correspondent

Difficulty in literature has its own joys and pleasures

Reviews

Got those bee in my bonnet about Bono blues

Unless you really hate the U2 frontman you probably won’t want to spend precious hours on a book that is so negative it almost makes you want to defend him

An Englishwoman in New York, by Anne-Marie Casey

Paperback review

Saul Bellow’s Heart: A Son’s Memoir, by Greg Bellow

The American writer’s psychotherapist son has written a perceptive, honest – and angry – book about life with a literary giant

The Ash and the Beech: the Drama of Woodland Change, by Richard Mabey

Paperback review

Pilgrim Paths in Ireland, by John G O’Dwyer

Paperback review

The Great War, by Peter Hart

A new military history of the first World War not only makes the conflict more intelligible but turns it into a gripping narrative

The Effect of Her, by Gerard Stembridge

The ‘Scrap Saturday’ writer returns to political satire for his fourth novel

Red Sky in Morning, by Paul Lynch

An intriguing debut novel reflects its author’s past as a film critic, as well as showing off his love of language

Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, by Mark Blyth

Do austerity policies ever work? Not according to the author of this illuminating new economic history

Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation, by Judith Mackrell

The flapper women of the 1920s blazed a vibrant – and scandalous – trail

John Ryan, Anthony Cronin, Brian O’Nolan, Patrick Kavanagh and Tom Joyce on Sandymount Strand on Bloomsday 1954. Who ever decided that James Joyce was ‘fun’?

Difficulty in literature has its own joys and pleasures

Video: Ulysses in three minutes Video: Ulysses in three minutes
  • Books
  • June 15, 2013, 06:00

Stuck for time? Yes, and yes and yes? Watch James Joyce’s famous book condensed into a bite-sized chunk

Very Rev Paul Draper at the newly renovated Cotton Library in St Carthage’s Cathedral , Lismore, Co Waterford. Photograph: Patrick Browne Lismore library gives an insight into another world

A largely forgotten library in Lismore that has some rare and historical gems opens its doors this weekend

Unfussy shifts of location: Conor O’Callaghan. Photograph: Eve O’Callaghan Sound, rhythm, a soft-top and a disco ball’s bright distortions
  • Books
  • John McAuliffe
  • June 15, 2013, 01:00

John McAuliffe enjoys the music in Conor O’Callaghan’s new poetry collection

Megaphone diplomacy: did Bono really prolong violent conflict in the North? Photograph: Reuters/Tim Wimborne Got those ‘bee in my bonnet about Bono’ blues (Review)
  • Books
  • Ed O'Loughlin
  • June 13, 2013, 01:00

Unless you really hate the U2 frontman you probably won’t want to spend precious hours on a book that is so negative it almost makes you want to defend him

Ambassadors: Irish poets on stage in Paris Word for Word: it pays to pay attention to our poets
  • Books
  • Doireann Ní Bhriain
  • June 15, 2013, 01:00

Also known as: John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black Black gets blacker in Quirke’s latest Dublin noir adventure
  • Books
  • Declan Burke
  • June 8, 2013, 01:00

The latest crime fiction

“Air of progress”? Followers of Ayatollah Khomeini march in Tehran during the 1979 revolution in Iran. Photograph: Saris/AP Word for Word: a different Planet

You win: Patrick Freyne cedes victory to Dawn O’Porter A night on the tiles

What more natural challenge to set during Dublin Writers Festival than to play Scrabble against The Irish Times?

The group think method for getting a novel finished
  • Books
  • Fiona McCann
  • May 31, 2013, 01:00

You could struggle on with your novel in isolation, but I found a writers’ group is the best way forward

Why virtual lending is a political minefield

Sara Keating borrows some ebooks from her local library

Jane Gardam: not as famous as Martin Amis. Photograph: Victoria Salman Word for Word: one day Jane Gardam will get her dues
  • Books
  • Anna Carey
  • June 1, 2013, 01:00

‘Raymond Carver’s poems’ popularity must be in part due to their unrelenting cheerfulness – a contrast with many of his stories.’ A Carver carved

An Irishman’s Diary: Remembering a writer who (more than once, perhaps) was cut off in his prime

Leanne O’Sullivan: her “strong and varied collection” has its lighter moments. Photograph: Donal O’Sullivan Hankering after something vanished
  • Books
  • John McAuliffe
  • May 25, 2013, 02:00

The thoughtful, ambitious poems in Leanne O’Sullivan’s new collection bring the past to life

Nadeem Aslam: reading and interview in Listowel. Photograph: Jerry Bauer Word for Word: the literary month ahead

Photograph: Doubleday Code read: when Dan met Dante

Dan Brown’s new novel sets his indestructible hero against the problem of overpopulation – which is funny, given that most of the world seems to have read his books

Photograph: Julien Chatelin/Rex Features James Salter: a long career, a late flourishing
  • Books
  • Belinda McKeon
  • May 18, 2013, 01:00

For too long, perhaps, he was a writer’s writer – but James Salter’s reputation has matured with age

Colum McCann at Sandymount, Dublin in 2011. New York, however, is where he wants to live now. Photograph: Alan Betson Colum McCann’s latest high-wire act links home and America

Colum McCann’s ‘Irish book’ is an emigrant’s take on Frederick Douglass and George Mitchell in Ireland

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Participants in the Bloomsday World Record attempt which took place outside Dunphy’s pub, George’s Street, Dún Laoghaire. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw ‘Ulysses’ brought to life across the globe
Graham Wilkinson and Paul Kennedy participate in the 20th annual Brennan’s bread Bloomsday messenger bike rally in Dublin. Photograph: Alan Betson Bloomsday is a brilliant marketing ploy – just don’t take it too seriously
Liam O’Flaherty: The House of Gold was suppressed by the Irish Censorship of Publications Board the year after its release in 1929, as it believed it fell into the category of being “indecent” or “obscene”. Photograph: NYPL Digital Gallery/Wikipedia State’s first banned book to be published for first time in 80 years
Kevin Barry has won the International Impac Dublin Literary Award, one of the world’s richest literary prizes, for his novel City of Bohane. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times Kevin Barry wins Impac literary award
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This week's book: Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden is available from Saturday 15th June - Friday 21st June

Mary Raftery Do They Think We're Eejits? Mary Raftery Do They Think We're Eejits?

A selection of The Irish Times columns from 2003-2009: €10.00 plus €2.50 p&p

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