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Customer Reviews (1)

review of The Quare Fellow
This review is of the first play in the book, The Quare Fellow.

I highly recommend The Quare Fellow, the first play in the collection.I would like to see it performed.Behan's writing skills are comparable to those of Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes:first rate.

I am not reviewing the entire collection because I haven't read it due to time limitations. ... Read more

Product Description
This miracle of autobiography and prison literature begins: "Friday, in the evening, the landlady shouted up the stairs: 'Oh God, oh Jesus, oh Sacred Heart, Boy, there's two gentlemen here to see you.' I knew by the screeches of her that the gentlemen were not calling to inquire after my health . . . I grabbed my suitcase, containing Pot. Chlor., Sulph Ac, gelignite, detonators, electrical and ignition, and the rest of my Sinn Fein conjurer's outfit, and carried it to the window..." The men were, of course, the police, who knew seventeen-year-old Behan for the anti-imperialist terrorist he was and arrested him. He spent three years as a prisoner in England, primarily in Borstal (reform school), and was then expelled to his homeland, a changed but hardly defeated rebel. Once banned in the Irish Republic, Borstal Boy is both a riveting self-portrait and a clear look into the problems, passions, and heartbreak of Ireland. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

"The Compliments Pass When The Quality Meet"
Brendan Behan's memoir of his time incarcerated in England , is a comical, sympathetic and humanistic work of art. As a young IRA member arrested in Liverpool at the age of 16 in possession of explosives he demonstrated a remarkably fatalistic viewpoint for someone so young and seemed to take in the experience as an observant participant in a human drama without a hint of self pity.

As he begins in a remanded prison before his transfer to London and ultimately to a Borstal (reform school) he meets with a variety of characters both fellow prisoners and "screws" or guards and they populate his story that also includes incredibly detailed descriptionsof the routine of a life behind bars.

Behan became famous as a playwright and notorious drinker in his later years and died tragically young apparently from years of heavy drinking. He is a writer of great insight and power and should not be missed by anyone interested in Irish literature.

The more I know him, the more I regret that he's gone
There are several excellent reviews for this title, so I won't attempt to reinvent the wheel with mine.

The best I can say is that with each page of this incredible book, I find myself closer to a person I never thought I'd like, let alone truly love.

When all is said and done, Brendan Behan is not about The Cause or The Revolution or liberalism or conservatism or anything. Brendan is a human being, in it for Brendan and his best interests. But don't let this make you think that he is a selfish being. Quite the contrary... Brendan finds the humanity in others, far away from the propaganda and agendas he's been fed since infancy. And in that, Brendan finds the humanity in himself.

He's been gone now for... well, longer than I care to believe. But in this, his most powerful and insightful work, he speaks to an audience that is far from outdated, saying the things he feels and believes, with an honesty that most of us wish we had, but work far too hard to conceal. His candidness speaks to our deepest secrets, and opens up a self-awareness in those who wish to explore it.

I am an avid reader, 40 years and going... and I count this as my single favorite book. That is not a distinction given lightly.

Brendan Behan may not be here now, but his message of humanity and humor and growth is ageless. I can only hope that more people take a moment to read it.

A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind
This autobiographical account of Brendan Behan's arrest and imprisonment from 1939 until around 1943 in a British Borstal (youth correctional facility)is an outstanding piece of literature.

There are four primary strenghts to this great work.

First, the language is witty, charming, and creative. I found the mixture of Irish and British male adolescent working class slang to be musical and amusing. Behan had a wonderful sense of dialogue and the manner in which young men verbally duel with each other, striving for rank and dominance and friendship.

Second, the story is unique. A 17 year old IRA terrorist is arrested and sent to a youth facility full of adolescent petty criminals. The worlds of incarcerated vs. free; adult vs. adolescent; Catholic vs. Protestant; Irish vs. English: andcriminal vs. political prisoner are just a few of the wonderful tensions and juxtapositions that Behan creates.

Third, is Behan's slow pace and ability to observe the most remote details, describe them uniquely, and then weave these streams of images together to create a world and to populate it with characters that ring true with every word.

Fourth, the story is a tremendous testament to the goodness of mankind. Underneath the tensions, the rivalry, the ideology, the story reveals the simple common kindness of mankind. Brendan Behan may have evoked this kindness through his own exceptional openness and acceptance of his fellowman or he may have observed this kindness through this insightful but possibly biased vision of the innate goodness of mankind; but, none the less, his faith in our sometimes distorted and crippled species shines through the autobiography like a beacon of hope.

I wish I could have given more than 5 stars to this superb work. Don't rush through this book. Let Behan take you into his experiences and his kind view of the world of man.

breath-takingly funny
I was epecting something a little more politically polemic or bleak, but this account is hysterically funny and inspired.Behan's writing is always vital, his grasp of dialogue perfect, but this novel enjoys a pacing brilliance I dared not hope from a playwright.Most dramatists have trouble with narrative prose because the rhythms are different, but not so with this account of his jail time as an adolescent in England.

Brilliant one-of-a-kind memoir
I'm an avid reader and can't believe I overlooked this book for so long. Perhaps I dismissed Behan as a professional Irishman, known more for his carousing than for his writing. What a mistake! This memoir is profound, profane, funny and, ultimately, humane. Read this book now; you're in for a treat. ... Read more

Product Description
The immigration man read my deportation order, looked at it and handed it back to me. 'Are you Irish?' he asked me. 'No' I said 'as a matter of fact, I'm Yemenite Arab.' Two detectives came forward who were evidently there to meet me.'Apparently he is Brendan Behan,' they said. The immigration officer shook my hand and his hard face softened. 'Cead mile failte romhat abhaile.' (A hundred thousand welcomes home to you.) I could not answer.There are no words and it would be impertinence to try.I walked down the gangway.I was free. First published after Brendan Behan's tragic death, Confessions of an Irish Rebel picks up where Borstal Boy left off.Not only is it the last instalment of a unique and unorthodox autobiography, but of a unique and unorthodox life that was as touched with genius as it was with doom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very good book
I bought the book in 1993. Tried to get it again via Amazon, but cannot (since only used books available, and I am in Indonesia).

I like the book very much. The jokes were very fresh.

Imam Soeseno
Bogor, Indonesia

Damn Good Book
I've read reviews that say 'Borstal Boy' is a better book- but this is a hysterical, random set of stories about Behan's years before he became a literary entity, but after he left prison.There's some great stuff about Camus, the two were friends in Paris.Highly recomended, especially if you liked his other stuff- this is a bit more acidic than 'Borstal Boy', but much funnier and a hell of a lot more acidic.He was a good man, the Irish equal of Dylan Thomas. ... Read more

Product Description
"You're F.B.I., Brendan," said the proprietor of McSorley's the famous old ale house in New York. So the Foreign Born Irishman, Brendan Behan, takes on his last tour of what he calls "the most exciting city in the world."

His anthropological investigations cover a wide variety of places, people and things, always accompanied by ribald anecdote and rumbustious description. Whether he is buying a paper off an old lady in Harlem, swimming in the baths at the Young Men's Hebrew Association, visiting a bum on the Bowery, or having a jar with "one of his own" in an Irish saloon on Third Avenue, he has always an eye for the color of the situation and the wit to express it. Neither the serious nor the absurd are secure from his investigations, and the sacred cows fall happily.

From the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village to Costello's on Third Avenue, from Mott Street in Chinatown to the Hotel Chelsea on Twenty-third Street, Brendan Behan traces an erratic path about the city, encountering such luminaries as Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, William O. Douglas and Leonard Lyons - telling a tale here, embroidering an anecdote there and always passing the time of day after his own inimitable fashion.

The spirit of the text is brilliantly complemented by Paul Hogarth, whose drawings evoke a nostalgia for the known and not so well-known features of the "melting pot of the world," and continue the partnership which proved to be so successful in Brendan Behan's Island. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BRENDAN BEHAN; THE IRISH DYLAN THOMAS
Brendan Behan (Irish)(February 9,1923-March 20,1964) was one of the great literary comets of the 20th century: Poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright, who wrote in both Gaelic and English.

Behan may best be compared to his near-contemporary, the Welsh Dylan Thomas, who's probably better known now for the fact that one Robert Zimmerman named himself Bob Dylan, after him.At any rate, both Thomas and Behan were Celtic, of course, one Welsh, one Irish, from corners of Great Britain that the English have never looked on too fondly. They were talented writers, sensitive men, lionized for their work in 1950's America: both fought well-publicized battles with their drinking problems, bringing them unwanted notoriety,and both died young, with their alcohol use a contributing factor.Thomas, who was best known as a poet, "Under Milk Wood," collapsed and died in the New York Greenwich Village tavern, The White Horse.

Behan was best known as an author and playwright: his most widely circulated book was the autobiographical "The Hostage."His plays "Borstal Boy,"( British English for a prison for teenagers); and "The Quare Fellow,"produced in the late 50's, early 60's, in England, Ireland, and especially America,were his greatest successes, "du scandale."

He was a never-say-die member of the Irish Republican Army, and did stints of jail time for his anti-England guerilla activities at quite young ages: he used the experiences for his greatest plays.He was a handsome man.He was also a well-known figure around the pubs of Dublin, New York and Boston; and a well-loved wit.A friend of mine, Albert Byrne, a Dublin native of appropriate age and station, remembered running into Behan at unexpectedly early hours of the morning, at unexpectedly down market pubs.Behan, who once described himself as "a drinker with a writing problem," collapsed at the Harbour Lights Bar in March 1964 and died a few days later, at age 41.He was once not permitted to march in New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade with the Fordham University Gaelic society, as he was considered "a public drunkard;" he'd been several times arrested for that offense.His untimely death was caused by diabetes, associated with alcohol intake.He'd also once said," I only drink on two occasions-- when I'm thirsty and when I'm not."He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetary, Dublin.

Brendan's brother Dominic( October 22,1928-August 3,1989) was also a well-known political rebel, wit, raconteur, BBC personality, and writer--particularly of songs.So was a third brother, Brian.Their mother was also politically active, and wrote "Mother of all the Behans."Their father, an educated man, had lost intra-IRA political battles, and so painted houses for a living.His sons followed him into that trade, more or less, in Brendan's case, definitely less. Brendan showed precocious talent as a writer and wit; also, for better or worse, as noted above, as a boozer and a political activist.He was, hardly surprisingly, considered undisciplined as a young man and some say he found discipline in post-World War II Paris in the company of various aspiring young American writers.I doubt this, as a noted writer I knew, Milt Machlin, who'd often put Brendan up during his own post-WWII, living on GI benefits, Paris days, described a man who was hardly house-broken.Then again,of course,Brendan might have learned discipline in his writing habits, if not his personal ones.

Be that as it may, this is a memoir of Brendan's life by his brother Dominic.It presents what I expect is an accurate portrait of Brendan's childhood, his work, and what will have to pass for his maturity.Unfortunately, Dominic chose to write the frequent dialogue in his book in dialect: such as "yeh," for "you," and it's very distracting.

Still the book is packed with people, places and stories.As the time, at Dominic's wedding, when the lawyer who was to perform the ceremony got annoyed at the rowdiness of the crowd and said, "if you're not serious, I won't marry you at all." "Nobody's asking you,"Brendan replied. "He brought a perfectly good girl of his own." The book does reward the extra effort required to read it: it should be restored to print and to circulation. ... Read more

Product Description
Brendan Behan was already a legend of the literary world when he died in 1964 at the age of 41.Today his stature as a celebrated writer and wit, rebel and rake is firmly established, yet posterity tends to focus on the hackneyed image of the archetypal Irishman and spectacular drunk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Brendan Behan: A Life by Michael O'Sullivan
Brendan Behan: A Life was, for me, a sad and disturbing book.Brendan Behan was a writer rich in talent but a terrible alcoholic who refused help and abused those who loved and cared about him the most.While I knew Behan was a heavy drinker, his homosexuality, pornography and pimping were news to me.O'Sullivan has researched his subject well and gives readers a lot to ponder when they consider Behan's public persona and the real man. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Brendan Behan, but be prepared to learn more about him than you want to know.

Brendan Behan, a (tortured) Life
Pointedly brief, O'Sullivan's title for this latest biography of Brendan Behan speaks volumes about the bad boy of recent Irish letters. Not quite life tragic, yet certainly not life triumphant, O'Sullivan lets the reader plod through and decide what it was. Who would, after all, pay for worldwide literary claim and fame by spending half of their adult existence in prison?

To begin, O'Sullivan lays the blame for Behan's crippling alcoholism at the feet of his grandmother, a family matriarch who doted on Brendan and had him swilling pints of Guinness by age six. Using a curious theory of child rearing, Granny English believed that early imbibing actually prevented alcohol dependency in later life. Kethleen Behan, Brendan's mother, resented her mother's influence on the family but was inexplicably powerless to halt it.

In the background stood Brendan's father Stephen, a peripheral player for the fledgling Irish Republican Army in the Dublin of the 1920s.If nothing else Behan's father instilled in him a love of literature and a hatred of the British and their Free State cronies, a hatred which was monumentally critical in shaping Brendan's later life.

By age sixteen Brendan Behan was a young man of obvious intelligence and writing ability, yet also a young man likened by his IRA counterparts to a loaded pistol with the safety off.O'Sullivan lays bare Behan's misplaced republican idealism, idealism that saw him land in one of Britain's Borstal Correctional Institutes after docking in Liverpool with a suitcase of explosives and not a satisfactory account for them. Not one to learn a lesson, Behan fired a pistol wildly at a Free State policeman in Dublin shortly after his Borstal release and was rewarded for his poor aim with fourteen more years in a of string Irish prisons.

Some of Brendan Behan's most important literary works, Borstal Boy and The Quare Fellow, soon followed by The Hostage, emerged from his protracted incarceration, and brought him worldwide attention. After Behan's sentence was reduced under political amnesty, he was off to America where he became a darling of the media and a sideshow to those who reveled in the antics of this talented Irishman. According to O'Sullivan, Behan spent the rest of his life writing, fighting and drinking. His alcohol and institutionally-shortened existence ended on March 20th, 1964 at age 41. The official cause of death was advanced liver disease.

What might separate this biography of Behan from others is the considerable access to prison writings that the biographer had. Brendan Behan, A Life is worthwhile reading and reminds us of the great Samuel Johnson quote: 'He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.'

Chronicles a talented writer's near-legendary life
Brendan Behan: A Life chronicles a talented writer's near-legendary life and illustrates why Behan became one of Ireland's most celebrated artists. Compiled from a wide variety of sources which included prison documents, interviews with family and friends, editors and contemporaries, biographer Michael O'Sullivan was able to present a lucid and vivid introduction to the complex personal world of a genuine literary genius. Brendan Behan: A Life is a "must" for those who appreciate the contributions, influence and work of this unusual and gifted literary figure of modern Irish literature.

Perceptive, Honest and Well Written.
The particular achievement of this fine book, is to extractBrendan Behan from the mire of mythology in which he has been sofirmly placed since his death in 1964 at the age of 41. No easy task for any author given Behan's own willful contribution to the process. It deals fairly and honestly with Behan's homosexual leanings and does so in a non judgemental way using the evidence available rather than mere speculation. It is perceptive and the writing is as, Jack Helbig describes it in Booklist, 'graceful and forceful'. Behan was long over due such a biography.

A Weak Effort
Brendan Behan was no literary giant, but he deserves better than this -- poorly and pompously written, indifferently edited, riddled with factual errors (outrageous, considering the research), and lacking in perceptionand depth.In addition, the author's obsession with Behan's supposedhomosexuality is wearisome.Behan isn't important enough to be on thereceiving end of a top-flight definitive biography, but it's too damned badthat this is as close as he'll come. ... Read more

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To find out more information about Rowman & Littlefield titles please visit us at www.rowmanlittlefield.com. ... Read more

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When Brendan Behan died in 1964 at the age of 41, he had rung the changes in his short life: bomber, gunman, borstal boy, alcoholic and, finally, international literary figure with the success of "The Quare Fellow", "The Hostage" and "Borstal Boy". But Behan drowned his talent in a whiskey bottle and became the caricature of an Irish stage drunk, clowning his way with oaths and stories between bars in Dublin, London, Paris and New York. Written in association with his widow, his mother and others of his family and friends, and old IRA comrades, this is a biography of Brendan Behan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

STAR STRUCK
Peter Arthurs was a proverbial hanger-on to the point he must be considered an ungrateful parasite. The book is a libel against
Brendan Behan who was the source of many funds for this unemployed and uneducated merchant seaman. Behan, no doubt, had his problems but Arthurs capitalized on them.Without Behan, there
would be no author Peter Arthurs. ... Read more

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The late Brendan Behan captured the essence of Ireland in this compilation of Dublin talk, reminiscence, comment, verse and anecdote. The text is complemented by Paul Hogarth's drawings. ... Read more