A Flutter of Wings
Cover image by Clare Brennan. Introduction by Val Mulkerns.
"Strange," he said to himself. "I had an idea that Pat's Tommy was dead." — "Cloonaturk"
First collected in 1974, the stories in A Flutter of Wings span Mervyn Wall's entire writing career, dating back as far as the 1940s. Told in an easy style, tales such as "They Also Serve... " and "Adventure" offer the same satirical sensibilities found in Wall's classic novel The Unfortunate Fursey; while darker tales such as "Cloonaturk" and "The Demon Angler" are not without a hint of the grimly sardonic. In addition to an introduction by Val Mulkerns and illustrations by Clare Brennan, this new edition boasts the uncollected Jamesian fragment "Extract from an Abandoned Novel", and Wall's early play, Alarm Among the Clerks, a savagely hilarious and ultimately brutal depiction of office life.
Contents:
"Remembering Mervyn" by Val Mulkerns
"They Also Serve..."
"Adventure"
"The Hogskin Gloves"
"The Demon Angler"
"Cloonaturk"
"Age Cannot Wither"
"Leo the Lion"
"The Men Who Could Outstare Cobras"
"The Metamorphosis of a Licensed Vintner"
"Extract from an Abandoned Novel"
"Alarm Among the Clerks"
"Acknowledgments"
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Mervyn Wall
Mervyn Wall (1908–1997) was an Irish writer who was born in Dublin. He attended Belvedere College and worked as a civil servant. His wife, Frances Feehan, was a music critic.
Merwyn Wall published novels, short stories and plays, and wrote for a short-lived literary magazine, Ireland Today.
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