A Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland
Though the scenario is familiar?an American with Irish ancestry travels to Ireland to explore her roots and her identity?this book is not typical. The essays here have a more intellectual bent; the descriptions of the people and the landscape are interspersed with philosophical musings on things such as the use of animal metaphors in our language, the life of Irish patriot Roger Casement, the imagery of blood in discussions of ethnicity, and the reasons why the Travelers (the Irish version of gypsies) are so hated. Solnit (Savage Dreams, Sierra Club, 1994), who has written numerous essays in publications such as Sierra, writes in an accessible, readable style and displays a thorough knowledge of Irish history and literature. For academic libraries and public libraries with larger travel collections.?Kathleen A. Shanahan, American Univ., Silver Spring, Md.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.