IRISH CHRISTMAS FEAST CL

This bountiful collection of more than fifty tales by one of Ireland'¬"s liveliest and most popular writers offers holiday charm and Gaelic humor by the Christmas stockingful. Drawing on the rich folk culture of County Kerry, John B. Keane brings new life to old customs in his portrayals of not-so-ordinary country people during the Christmas season. Keane revisits the Christmases celebrated by characters like Dotie Tupper and Johnny Naile, the doughty Canon Doyle and deaf Canon Cornelius Coodle, the amiable spendthrift Aenias Mackson, and Hiccups O'¬"Reilly, who disappears one Christmas Eve for seven years. Keane bears delightful witness to the trials and triumphs of the inhabitants of County Kerry, Ireland.

John B. Keane, the beloved playwright and author of such novels as The Contractors and Durango, as well as collections of poetry, songs, letters, and short stories, lived in Listowel, County Kerry. There he presided over one of the liveliest, most literary pubs in Ireland until his death in May 2002.