Reckless Laughter: A Biography of Ian Cochrane: Author deserving of another day in the sun

Résumé détaillé

The biography traces Cochrane’s life from his earliest days in a two-bedroom cottage in the townland of Moylarg to London, where he fell in with fellow Northern novelist Maurice…

Ian Cochrane is a much-overlooked voice in Irish fiction. His six novels, published during the 1970s and 1980s, provide a unique insight into rural poverty and the Protestant working-class experience in mid-century Northern Ireland.

Cochrane has long been overdue a revival and this comprehensive and compelling biography by Philip Taylor, editor of The Last Word (Turnpike’s 2022 collection of Cochrane’s short stories), is sure to win the Cullybackey-born writer many new fans.

Reckless Laughter is carefully researched, engaging and includes moving testimonies from Cochrane’s family and peers. I particularly enjoyed the section comparing and contrasting Cochrane’s experience of a rural upbringing with that of Seamus Heaney.

Début de l'article, extrait de The Irish Times. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.