Work of Flann O’Brien Explored in new Book

Dr Keith Hopper, Research Fellow in the Centre for Irish Studies at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, has contributed the lead chapter in a new book about the Irish writer Flann O’Brien. Employing a wide range of critical perspectives and new comparative contexts, Flann O’Brien: Contesting Legacies (Cork University Press, 2014) breaks new ground in O’Brien scholarship by testing a number of popular commonplaces about this great (post-)modernist author. Dr Hopper’s contribution, “Coming Off the Rails”, focuses on O’Brien’s most inventive and intriguing short story, “John Duffy’s Brother” (1940), which was made into an award-winning short film in 2006. The essay discusses both the story and the film, and explores some of its more secretive subtexts. It also locates the story as one of the earliest, and most exuberant, examples of post-modern fiction. Dr Hopper, who is a recognised authority on Flann O’Brien, said: “As a long-time Flanneur, I am pleased to be part of the latest project in the growing field of O’Brien studies. Cork University Press has published a number of important works on O’Brien, and are to be commended for this handsome and well-edited volume." Dr Hopper is the author of Flann O’Brien: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Post-modernist (Cork UP, revised edition 2009), co-editor, with Prof Neil Murphy, of Flann O’Brien: Centenary Essays (Dalkey Archive Press, 2011), and The Short Fiction of Flann O’Brien (Dalkey Archive Press, 2013).