Considered to be one of the best Irish writers of the twentieth century AidanHiggins has earned a reputation throughout Europe as an unusual and astringentprose... » 

Considered to be one of the best Irish writers of the twentieth century AidanHiggins has earned a reputation throughout Europe as an unusual and astringentprose stylist. This omnibus of selected short fiction is the perfectintroduction to the talents of this Irish successor to James Joyce and SamuelBeckett although Higginss work is perhaps more reminiscent of his Welshcontemporary Dylan Thomas and displays Higginss warmth of language andcharacter. From a melancholy tale of suicide in North Salt Holdings to acolorful depiction of J. J. Catchpoles escapades in Catchpole Higginsbuilds his characters into touching failures who both attract and repulse thereader. «