`You love books'," the elegant invitation said, "because they excite you" (they do, they do) "they challenge you (thats often true) "they make you laugh" (well, not A Brief History of Time) "they engross you and intrigue you" (that's the hope, anyway) "they make you angry" (Handy Sex Tips For Young Girls had this effect) "or want to kiss somebody" (er, not that I can recall).
"But most of all," the invitation concluded, "they give you the excuse to see the inside of the magnificent new O'Mahony's' bookstore on O'Connell Street, Limerick." Regrettably, I'll have to take David O'Mahony's word for this because I wasn't able to make it down to the official opening of the new shop on Thursday evening, at which David expected to have the likes of Mike Murphy, Patricia Scanlan, Gareth O'Callaghan and Michael Curtin.
In a burst of understandable enthusiasm, David tells me that this is "the newest, probably the biggest and definitely the nicest bookshop in the country". If by the latter he means that the staff actually care both about what they're selling and about their customers, that would definitely be nice, not to mention unusual. I'll certainly check it out next time I'm in Limerick.
LAST February I wrote about a newsletter sent by American thriller writer Lawrence Block to his fans. I'd count myself as a fan, though not of the hustling style evidenced in the newsletter, which importuned me to part with my money for the greater wealth and glory of Mr Block.
Well, he's at it again, and while I shouldn't bother returning to the subject, the guy is so amazing that I feel I have to keep you informed. His latest newsletter, which arrived the other day, tells me that plans to erect a bench in New York's Bryant Park in honour of his private eye hero, Matt Scudder, are well advanced indeed, seventy fans have between them already coughed up $2,000 to get it installed. However, he tells me that benches cost $5,000 dollars, "so there's plenty of room for new donors.
This is American chutzpah at its best Mr Block obviously doesn't see why a memorial to himself should actually be paid for by himself not, at any rate, while there are people only too willing to do so, and there's one born every minute, as he very well knows.
The rest of the newsletter is mainly concerned with requesting fans to send him even more of their money for early editions of his novels but I'm afraid your generosity will be a one way affair because here's what he has to say about autographing books. "I'll happily sign your books if you catch me at a reading or public appearance but don't send them to me. I'll return them unsigned, or if I'm feeling selfish that day, I'll keep them." Indeed, if he's true to form maybe he'll then advertise them for sale in his next newsletter thus enabling you to buy back your own copy of one of his books.
Irish fans meanwhile will be glad to learn that his partner Lynne and himself had a terrific time at the Listowel Writers Week last summer so much so that they'll be back again next year. Indeed, he's coming over in the spring to work on the next Matt, Seudder novel. If you can't afford the postage to the US and it you see him in the street you can personally hand him your cheques for his bench.
IN UCD's Room G32 on November 14th. Merlin Holland will be giving a lecture entitled "Killing One Peacock with Two Stool Dorian Gray and the Downfall of Oscar Wilde". Given that Mr Holland Wilde's grandson this lecture. Which is organised by the National Library of Ireland Society and to which admission, is free, should be of real interest.
It also constitutes a postlude, it you like, to the third Oscar Wilde Autumn School, which runs at Lacy's. St and Road, Bray from next Wednesday until Monday week. This school wouldn't exist without the tireless enthusiasm and seemingly boundless Wildean knowledge of David Rose, and among the participants he has enlisted for this year's event are Frank McGuinness, Derek Mahon, Muriel McCarthy, Barbara Wright, Bruce Arnold Dedan Kiberd' and Gerry Dukes. There will also be a concert Victorian songs given by Niamh Murray and a for dinner with "Wildean entertainment" by the Square One Theatre Company.
If you want to absorb it all, the overall admission fee is a trifling £40, while individual sessions will set you back a mere few pounds. To find out more, phone (01) 2865245.
SPEECHES were at a minimum in the Shelbourne Hotel on Tuesday night for the launch of Anthony Cronin's Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist. A man from HarperCollins did announce that the hook was fourth in the Irish bestseller lists, and the author did say a few words, but he insisted that the evening should be the occasion for a party rather than a hook launch.
And so it turned out not surprisingly, given that among the many who came along to wish him well were Charles J. Haughey, Noel Pearson, John Montague, Ben Kiely, John Banville, Michael Colgan, Desmond Guinness, Michael Kane and Ulick O'Connor. Chatter, as you can imagine, was at a maximum.
In the few words that he did formally say, Tony Cronin stressed the "astonishing clarity" of Beckett's art and regretted that so much of what has been written about the man and his work has seemed intent on mystification rather than elucidation. His own excellent biography provides an elegant and engrossing corrective.