It’s Spring, and the flowers are budding, the birds are singing, and we’re all getting ready to pretend we’re a little Irish. My second installment of “Books You May Not Know of” is An Embarassment of Riches by Gerald Hansen, a bowdy, irreverent look at one Irish family, their hi-jinks, and a long-time bitter rivalry between two sisters, one of whom has won the Irish lottery.
I learned of this book through a book recommendation on my Kindle a few years ago and decided to read it. I remembered it recently and couldn’t find it; but when I searched by author, it came up. I wondered if it was just an obscure book, but, truth be told, there are 176 reviews for it on Amazon, averaging four stars overall.
A Bawdy Spring Read
Be forewarned: in this book, nothing is sacred.
I laughed, I guffawed, I felt guilty for laughing. This book almost seems to poke fun at Irish culture, or maybe just Irish stereotypes, and I kept wondering if I was wrong to enjoy this. Yet, I realized, every family has it’s embarrassments. A Catholic daughter gets knocked up by a Proddy, a younger daughter pulls chaos at her christening; this is full of irreverent laughs that are sometimes a little over the top. Seriously, there is never a dull moment in this story. If you like that sort of thing, try this book out. The author himself is Irish.
So, once again, I sing the praises of my Kindle and the Amazon book recommendation system, for bringing me great reads that none of my friends have ever heard of. I once read somewhere it is good to read a lot, and to read wide. It’s the best advice I ever received!
pamelascanepa 