Private Histories

"Ron Ebest's book dramatically advances the discussion of the character of Irish-American culture in the earlier twentieth century. These pages constitute a brilliantly orchestrated conversation among texts and events--the result of hard thinking on major concerns that both define the Irish and help us understand American ethnicity in general. Private Histories is literary history at its very best." --Charles Fanning, Professor of English and History, Director of Irish and Irish Immigration Studies, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and author of The Irish Voice in America "Thanks to Ron Ebest's assiduous scholarship, Frank McCourt and others of his ilk can now know the names of the forebears to whom they should be sending thank you notes. This treasure trove of established and newly unearthed voices will go a long way to filling in the glaring gap in the record of the contributions by Irish-American writers to the enduring literature of the United States." --Madeleine Blais, author of In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle; The Heart Is an Instrument: Portraits in Journalism; and Uphill Walkers: A Memoir of a Family "Private Histories is a fresh and penetrating analysis of Irish-American literature in its most important phase. It makes a strong contribution to the field with its original insights and wise judgments." --Robert Butler, Canisius College Private Histories is a complete literary history of the American Irish during the first part of the twentieth century. Ebest analyzes themes of particular importance to early-twentieth-century Irish Americans--such as religion, marriage, family, economic hardship, social status, and education--in the writings of well-known authors, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Eugene O'Neill. He also explores these issues in the works of lesser known authors, such as the Vanity Fair satirist Anne O'Hagan, labor activist and novelist Jim Tully, muckraking journalist Clara Laughlin, and the mystery writer John T. McIntyre.