Irish Times reviewers cast a critical eye over the latest crop of paperpacks .
Freedom and its Betrayal: Six Enemies of Human Liberty Isaiah Berlin, ed. Henry Hardy Pimlico, £12.50
Isaiah Berlin, who died in 1997, was one of the 20th century's most persuasive and stimulating purveyors of ideas. Born in Latvia in 1909, he came with his family to settle in England in 1921, and was among the youngest Fellows of All Souls, Oxford. A life-long academic, he was also a determined populariser of philosophical and political theory. In Freedom and its Betrayal he considers a half-dozen thinkers, including Rousseau, Fichte, Hegel, and the great proto-fascist Joseph de Maistre - the essay on Maistre is a masterpiece of fascinated disapproval. The essays originated as lectures delivered on the BBC Third Programme in 1952, and retain all the vigour, pace and raciness of live talks. Of the numerous works by Berlin that Henry Hardy has edited, this is second only to The Roots of Romanticism. We shall not see his likes again. - John Banville
The Gatekeeper: A memoir Terry Eagleton. Penguin £6.99
As the title suggests, this is not an autobiography, just a wholly engaging selection of anecdotes, images, characters and epiphanies from the life of the left-wing literary critic, from his dirt-poor and sickly childhood in the Irish slums of Salford, to student life at Oxbridge, political activism, philosophical debate, professional academia on both sides of the Atlantic (the tales from Utah stand out) and a complicated and unresolved relationship with his father. It is fine story-telling, and Eagleton has a sharp line in contemporary comic metaphor à la Bill Bryson that often makes for laugh-out-loud material. Pre-Vatican II altarboys are in for a particular treat. - Joe Culley
Youth. J.M.Coetzee. Vintage, £6.99
A young South African intent on beauty and perfection sets off for 1960s London. It is a quest with echoes of V.S. Naipaul's Half A Life without the ill- humour. Coetzee's outsider, unhappy young John, is as much at the mercy of his own personality - his self-disgust, frustration, insecurity and distrust - as of his artistic ambitions. As one would expected from one of the world's finest living writers, Youth is a superlative, layered performance, endowed with Coetzee's characteristic edgy grace. It could be read as the continuation of his magnificent memoir Boyhood (1997). Yet whereas the earlier book read like a novel, this novel has the feel of a memoir. It does not matter. The characterisation of John, cold and ruthless to his unfortunate lovers, yet somehow pathetically human in his failures, is remarkable. A vast, festering rage underpins the narrative as does a saving ribbon of despairing humour. Whatever about the artistic life, Youth is about growing up. - Eileen Battersby.
The Kid Stays in the Picture Robert Evans. Faber & Faber, £12.99
Visionary, maverick Hollywood producer or the biggest jerk that ever clawed his way to the top in Tinseltown? Robert Evans makes a strong case to be both in this funny, raunchy, gossipy memoir, first published in 1994. The self-described "cocksman", five-times-married serial adulterer was a former garment executive and failed actor who became head of production at floundering Paramount Pictures in 1966. Under his stewardship, the studio went to No 1 with a succession of box office hits, culminating with The Godfather I and II. Turning independent producer, Evans remained on top for a while. His downfall began when he was busted for cocaine possession in 1980, then continued with the legendary fiasco that became The Cotton Club (1984). The book is a real trip even if you don't believe half of it. - Kevin Sweeney
Alfred Russell Wallace: A Life Peter Raby. Pimlico, £12.50
Since the recent rediscovery of Wallace as a scientist, the tendency has been to depict him as the man who was "scooped" by the more ambitious (and well-connected) Charles Darwin. This is probably unfair to Darwin, but Wallace does appear to have been shabbily treated by history. Both men stumbled on the principle of Natural Selection at roughly the same time, and both were dedicated, intrepid explorers who ranged over thousands of miles; but there the resemblances end. For much of his life Wallace was dogged by ill-luck, he had no advantages of birth or connections, and his personality was rather retiring in spite of the controversies in which he was embroiled. Through it all he remained unembittered and clear-minded, dying in 1913 at the age of 90. Raby seems to have done full justice to a remarkable man, who had an equally remarkable life.- Brian Fallon
On Dublin's Doorstep: Exploring the Province of Leinster Christopher Moriarty Wolfhound Press, €12.99
What will we do on Sunday? Providing people with suggestions for Sunday outings in and around Dublin was the idea that spawned this book by Christopher Moriarty. Moriarty has divided the book into sections on historic sites, mountain walks, museums, great houses, parks, the seaside and inland waters, providing an essay on many of the well known spots in the Dublin environs. On Dublin's Doorstep is, unashamedly, more personal than most guidebooks and Moriarty's knowledge of geology and botany enhance the text greatly. However, the book doesn't contain detailed maps and step-by-step instructions on how to explore the places described, which is a drawback for the foreign visitor. - Sylvia Thompson