Laurence Mackinreviews Dublin Literary Pub Crawland London 2009
Dublin Literary Pub Crawl Colm Quilligan
Writers Island, www.dublinpub crawl.com, €10.95
You can say what you like about the Cliffs of Moher, Newgrange, the Ring of Kerry and Connemara: there's one main reason that most tourists come to Ireland, and that's for the simple pleasure of sipping a pint of stout on a soft day and putting the world to rights with the chat that flows in the wake of a few scoops.
This book takes a tour of some of the finer Dublin hostelries and the grand and not-so-grand literati that frequented them. The usual suspects are all here, along with a few begrudging acknowledgments of the superpubs that blight the city's trendier streets.
This is a crash course, and the writer attempts to cover a huge amount of ground. A more substantial book would have been welcome, with more attention paid to the pictures and typesetting. That said, what is here is colourful and entertaining, and gives the reader plenty of excuses for passing an afternoon in quiet literary libation contemplation.
London 2009Time Out Shortlist, £6.99
If a holiday closer to home is on the cards, but a literary tour of Dublin pubs is a bit too close for comfort, then London is a powerful option.
This guide makes no apologies for modern London: it is a vibrant, crackling city packed with cultural influences and energy, and there is no doubt that it can be a pricy destination.
But the book balances bling with excellent affordable options, and intriguing itineraries make for excellent days away: how about a tour for 90p or following in the footsteps of 007? The area- by-area organisation also makes planning easier.
lmackin@irish-times.ie