Book Review – Flann O’Brien: Gallows Humour, edited by Ruben Borg and Paul Fagan

Abstract

Brian O’Nolan aka Flann O’Brien, one of the most prominent Irish literary figures of twentieth century liteture, is not an easy read for one not clued into modern Irish history. Analysing O’Brien’s work, from the complex lens of gallows humour, is thus an extremely challenging task. The task taken up by Borg and Fagan is to map O’Brien’s acutely perplexing sense of humour and make it more accessible to a wider audience.