Portobello Notebook Adrian Kenny €10.00 ISBN: 9781843512028 Format: Paperback Size: 215 x 136 Publication Date: January 2012 Physical Copy (supplied by Lilliput Press) Add to Basket View Shopping Basket

This collection of stories is set in Portobello, on the edge of Dublin city centre, just inside the canal. The stories reflect on characters on the edge of life, personalities that do not quite fit in: Michael, the country boy who drowns himself; Harry, the old Jewish dealer living alone; Liam, the crude but jovial emigrant returning to Ireland for a visit.

Through the author’s eyes, and through the eyes of his other characters, we follow his progress from the first story, ‘Settling In’, to the final one, ‘Mr Pock’. Old friends are met, in loss or renewal, making or trying to make fresh starts, or looking back though the glass of time. Disappointment, happiness, uncertainty lead to the realization that this place has become – what the author had always thought was elsewhere – his home. Written over the past thirty years, these earnest and deeply human anecdotes form a greater story – of one man’s life in one place.

ADRIAN KENNY was born in Dublin in 1945. His books include Before The Wax Hardened, Istanbul Diary, The Family Business. He has also published an edition of the journals of Arland Ussher, and a translation of the 18th century Gaelic poet An Caisideach Ban. He is married to Ruth Webster, and they have two daughters. He is a member of Aosdàna.