`My sole concern", writes David Marcus in the introduction to this volume, "is to reflect the excellence of the contemporary Irish short story". He does so with an ease which suggests that excellent Irish short-story writers are growing on trees out there somewhere - but credit for another successful harvest must, surely, go to himself. From established names such as Eilis Ni Dhuibhne to relative newcomers such as Mary Russell, the range of styles and subjects - freedom fighters in Algeria and Cherokees in north Carolina alongside the muddier miseries of rural Ireland - is both impressive and engaging.
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