Reading Irish-American Fiction The Hyphenated Self [Hardcover]

This book analyzes five novels, all published between 1989 and 1999, in which the main characters are 'hyphenated people': Americans who are ancestrally joined to, yet realistically separated from, the Irish. Hallissy explores why these characters think of themselves as Irish, though they have know little of Ireland or its people.Preface: Connections and Separations Introduction: Irish Types, American Patterns What Americans Know and How They Know It: Song What Americans Know and How They Know It: Story 'Picture Postcard Ireland': Thomas Moran's The World I Made For Her Naming the Past: Lisa Carey's The Mermaids Singing The Pain of Not Knowing: Katherine Weber's The Music Lesson Bringing Paddies Over: Alice McDermott's Charming Billy The Rage of the Dying Animal: Mary Gordon's The Other Side Conclusion: The Journey BibliographyMARGARET HALLISSY is Professor of English, Long Island University, USA.