Dead As Doornails

Dead as Doornails, first published in 1976, returns to print as a true classic of Irish memoir. In this vivid account of post-war literary Dublin, Anthony Cronin captures a world as colorful and unruly as one would expect from an intimate of Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, and Myles na Gopaleen.

Yet this memoir is more than a collection of anecdotes. It offers a sharp, clear-eyed antidote to the sentimental myths that often shape Dublin’s literary history. Cronin writes with remarkable subt...