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The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices
We read because we want to experience lives and emotions beyond our own, to learn, to see with others’ eyes.
The 32 is a celebration of working-class voices from the island of Ireland. Edited by award-winning novelist Paul McVeigh, this intimate and illuminating collection features memoir and essays from established and emerging Irish voices including Kevin Barry, Dermot Bolger, Roddy Doyle, Lisa McInerney, Lyra McKee and many more.
Too often, working-class writers find that the hurdles they come up against are higher and harder to leap over than those faced by writers from more affluent backgrounds. As in Common People – an anthology of working-class writers edited by Kit de Waal and the inspiration behind this collection – The 32 sees writers who have made that leap reach back to give a helping hand to those coming up behind.
Without these working-class voices, without the vital reflection of real lives or role models for working-class readers and writers, literature will be poorer. We will all be poorer.
The 32 is a celebration of working-class voices from the island of Ireland. Edited by award-winning novelist Paul McVeigh, this intimate and illuminating collection features memoir and essays from established and emerging Irish voices including Kevin Barry, Dermot Bolger, Roddy Doyle, Lisa McInerney, Lyra McKee and many more.
Too often, working-class writers find that the hurdles they come up against are higher and harder to leap over than those faced by writers from more affluent backgrounds. As in Common People – an anthology of working-class writers edited by Kit de Waal and the inspiration behind this collection – The 32 sees writers who have made that leap reach back to give a helping hand to those coming up behind.
Without these working-class voices, without the vital reflection of real lives or role models for working-class readers and writers, literature will be poorer. We will all be poorer.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 8, 2021
19 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Paul McVeigh
13 books183 followersBorn in Belfast, I studied theatre at University and co-founded a theatre company to write and direct plays. After producing a number of plays I moved to London to write comedy shows before turning to prose.
My short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies published in the UK and USA and been translated into Spanish, Polish and Turkish. My stories have also been on BBC Radio 3,4, & 5. In 2017 I was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year.
My debut novel 'The Good Son' was been chosen for World Book Night 2017. It was City Reads 2016 book for Brighton and was the winner of The Polari First Novel Prize. It was shortlisted for The Guardian's 'Not The Booker' Prize 2015, shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and finalist for The People's Book Prize. It was voted Best of Year 2015 in Elle Magazine, the Irish Independent, Wales Arts Review, The Reading Agency, Top Beach Read in The Pool and a Gransnet Christmas Read.
'The Good Son' has been translated into French (where is was shortlisted for the Prix de Roman Cezam), German and Hungarian and Russia.
My short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies published in the UK and USA and been translated into Spanish, Polish and Turkish. My stories have also been on BBC Radio 3,4, & 5. In 2017 I was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year.
My debut novel 'The Good Son' was been chosen for World Book Night 2017. It was City Reads 2016 book for Brighton and was the winner of The Polari First Novel Prize. It was shortlisted for The Guardian's 'Not The Booker' Prize 2015, shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and finalist for The People's Book Prize. It was voted Best of Year 2015 in Elle Magazine, the Irish Independent, Wales Arts Review, The Reading Agency, Top Beach Read in The Pool and a Gransnet Christmas Read.
'The Good Son' has been translated into French (where is was shortlisted for the Prix de Roman Cezam), German and Hungarian and Russia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 29, 2021
A fabulous anthology of writing by Irish working class writers, along with a really excellent essay about the Irish class system.
Some of the writers were familiar to me, others unknown. There is a breadth of writing that means there would be something for everyone. Laughter, tears, anger and nostalgia, and just great writing.
Read with The Pigeonhole.
Some of the writers were familiar to me, others unknown. There is a breadth of writing that means there would be something for everyone. Laughter, tears, anger and nostalgia, and just great writing.
Read with The Pigeonhole.
August 7, 2021
The 32 is a very well put together anthology of essays from a wide range of people within the 32 counties. It looks at what exactly it means to be working class, whether that changes with time or location and whether you 'grow' out of being working class.
I especially enjoyed 'Two-Word Terms', 'Working Class Is Authenticity', 'Finding Words', 'We All Fall Down', 'Lost, Found, Remembered', 'Geepads', 'Choose Your Fighter' and 'All The World's End'.
Two stories in particular will stay with me for a very long time.
The raw honesty and beauty of 'A Losty Goodbye' absolutely broke my heart, bringing back memories of saying goodbye to my own Mam as we all clung around her bed trying to get our stories out. It's a very rare occasion that a book will make me shed a tear, this beautiful piece opened the floodgates.
'The In-Between' by Trudie Gorman also stood out as it was just such an amazing piece of writing that I immediately connected to. Full of fantastic imagery and gut-punching lines such as, "Mam wants us to know the world is bigger than pockets of fear" and "Poverty does that to you, sticks around inside of you" this was another very special piece.
As with any anthology there are going to be some fantastic pieces of writing which immediately grab you and some which you don't connect with at all. But overall this is a fantastic collection of writers, known and unknown, telling their stories in their language in the most beautiful way.
I especially enjoyed 'Two-Word Terms', 'Working Class Is Authenticity', 'Finding Words', 'We All Fall Down', 'Lost, Found, Remembered', 'Geepads', 'Choose Your Fighter' and 'All The World's End'.
Two stories in particular will stay with me for a very long time.
The raw honesty and beauty of 'A Losty Goodbye' absolutely broke my heart, bringing back memories of saying goodbye to my own Mam as we all clung around her bed trying to get our stories out. It's a very rare occasion that a book will make me shed a tear, this beautiful piece opened the floodgates.
'The In-Between' by Trudie Gorman also stood out as it was just such an amazing piece of writing that I immediately connected to. Full of fantastic imagery and gut-punching lines such as, "Mam wants us to know the world is bigger than pockets of fear" and "Poverty does that to you, sticks around inside of you" this was another very special piece.
As with any anthology there are going to be some fantastic pieces of writing which immediately grab you and some which you don't connect with at all. But overall this is a fantastic collection of writers, known and unknown, telling their stories in their language in the most beautiful way.
July 29, 2021
An eclectic mix of writing by Irish working class voices, some you might recognise, such as Roddy Doyle, others not so much, but hopefully you will in the future. A mix of memoir pieces and essays on life as a member of the working class in Ireland (North and South).
Very thought provoking and also a trip down memory lane for me (Northern Irish, working class but from a Protestant background).
Have bought Lyra McKee's full book (Lost, found remembered) as a result of reading the extract included here, looking forward to reading it.
Thanks to Pigeonhole and the authors for the opportunity to read this.
Very thought provoking and also a trip down memory lane for me (Northern Irish, working class but from a Protestant background).
Have bought Lyra McKee's full book (Lost, found remembered) as a result of reading the extract included here, looking forward to reading it.
Thanks to Pigeonhole and the authors for the opportunity to read this.
July 20, 2021
I don't know if I have done this review properly...it hit home so much that I think I fell down a rabbit hole. It has taken me nearly 20 years to say I live in social housing and not to feel ashamed because society tells us we should aim to own houses, be this, be that, be MORE all the time. It very rarely tells working class people that they are ENOUGH.
Anyway, here we go-
A companion book, of sorts, to Unbound's 'Common People' (which I can absolutely highly recommend) 'The 32' is very specifically called 'an' anthology, not 'the' anthology, allowing additions to be made and for other voices to join the throng of enclosed writers, singers, performance artists, activists and politicians. They are all collated by Paul McVeigh and Rachael Kerr and provide not only a platform for 16, previously un published writers, but also those who may have that platform but not spoken out on this topic before.
As he succinctly nails in his introduction,Paul McViegh shows that there is an expectation,and a definition, of what 'working class' means without recourse to asking those who have this as their lived experience if this is their reality.
As a working class person from Wales, who has grown up throwing trip letters in bins rather than take them home to my parents, wore hand me down clothes, remembers my parents not eating so that we could,only a house phone from the age of 14 and no access to a car (too poor to drive) I can relate to the feelings expressed so vividly here. We live in social housing, paying rent which costs more than a mortgage because my husband and I have sporadic credit histories.
My father was the most educated (not on paper) person that I have ever met, but he failed the 11 plus so that was that. My mother brought me and my brothers up as my father worked, her education curtailed by my arrival. He was one of 8, she one of 9. The lives they lived through formed them, he lived recklessly leaving only good memories whilst she saved every penny to build herself a castle so that no one could ever return her to the child bathing in her siblings bath water, in front of a fire (in the 1960's).
I can never forget the humiliation of being asked in assembly, as a school wide question, by the head, who has a bath multiple times a week, counting down to one. I was the only one who raised my hand, and , being an honest child, thought everyone else did the same. It never occurred that only being able to afford the heating to go on once a week was common to us alone. My husband grew up with an outside toilet, no glass in the windows, coats for blankets and spent nights praying his siblings wouldn't wet the bed again. We grew up in the 70's and 80's. Our children, aged 31-11 have all experienced the hardship and the hunger which drives us not only to work hard to exceed the expectations of others, but also to supersede the history of their family. Our kids are told to bath and shower, leave food on their plates and so forth as to us, this is luxury.
So when I was offered the chance to read this book, I jumped at to see if there was a commonality, a thread through which I could feel kinship with others who deal with the continuing subjugation, appropriation and misunderstanding of what constitutes a working class voice whilst amplifying this authentic reality.
And it was writ large on every single page.
The anthology could not have come at a better time, when the gap between rich and poor, privilege and poverty is stretched beyond imagining, widened by the events of last year and this. It's a drive to build others up, as Kerry Hudson says, 'send the elevator back down'.
We know just how hard the road has been, deal daily with the guilt of being able to enjoy our achievements whilst acknowledging our backgrounds. It's a protection mechanism, the way we guard ourselves against this sitaution of disconnection, otherness which is often replicated without a sense of understanding. You can see it in various aspects of the media , which is why it is so important that the gamut of people who gave their works to 'The 32' crosses disciplines, media platforms, forms and fiction. It is so very important to acknowledge your roots in order to understand where you are reaching to and yet, making peace with this notion is not easy.
There is still that assumption that you should 'know your place', 'stay in your lane' , however, the one thing that comes through loud and clear, is that these people have been stoked with fire in their fingers and passion in their guts.
They want accessibility and appreciation of lived experience to be understood, from what is seen a s limiter, to be challenged and changed into activism-Rosaleen McDonagh is a traveller, disabled, female and Irish, her reality and what she has been through drives her to be active in a way that many people who come from privilege will never understand. She reaches her hand out for others to be pulled up, and to illuminate so that I think those reading will , maybe, just maybe, get that if you have a voice, to not use it to amplify others is a waste. Such a waste.
My hopes are two-fold-that it reaches as wide an audience as possible in showing the unique, Irish working class experience is a journey, not a destination, and that it encourages other writers to be sought out, followed and championed.
Actually, make that 3 fold-I sincerely hope for more writing like this, across the British Isles. Because, if we only listen to pre dominant voices, all we will here are representations of ourselves reflected through the lens of white, male privilege. Handed out freely, never really understood, capable of giving so much more than it takes.
I love books like these because seeing what I have felt, the conflict, the confusion, the guilt and the anger which is unique to having to fight for every step forward is so often tamped down by those 'above' you. The more we speak, the more we read, the more we tell our children what it is like, the more we learn. And that, to me, could never be a bad thing.
Anyway, here we go-
A companion book, of sorts, to Unbound's 'Common People' (which I can absolutely highly recommend) 'The 32' is very specifically called 'an' anthology, not 'the' anthology, allowing additions to be made and for other voices to join the throng of enclosed writers, singers, performance artists, activists and politicians. They are all collated by Paul McVeigh and Rachael Kerr and provide not only a platform for 16, previously un published writers, but also those who may have that platform but not spoken out on this topic before.
As he succinctly nails in his introduction,Paul McViegh shows that there is an expectation,and a definition, of what 'working class' means without recourse to asking those who have this as their lived experience if this is their reality.
As a working class person from Wales, who has grown up throwing trip letters in bins rather than take them home to my parents, wore hand me down clothes, remembers my parents not eating so that we could,only a house phone from the age of 14 and no access to a car (too poor to drive) I can relate to the feelings expressed so vividly here. We live in social housing, paying rent which costs more than a mortgage because my husband and I have sporadic credit histories.
My father was the most educated (not on paper) person that I have ever met, but he failed the 11 plus so that was that. My mother brought me and my brothers up as my father worked, her education curtailed by my arrival. He was one of 8, she one of 9. The lives they lived through formed them, he lived recklessly leaving only good memories whilst she saved every penny to build herself a castle so that no one could ever return her to the child bathing in her siblings bath water, in front of a fire (in the 1960's).
I can never forget the humiliation of being asked in assembly, as a school wide question, by the head, who has a bath multiple times a week, counting down to one. I was the only one who raised my hand, and , being an honest child, thought everyone else did the same. It never occurred that only being able to afford the heating to go on once a week was common to us alone. My husband grew up with an outside toilet, no glass in the windows, coats for blankets and spent nights praying his siblings wouldn't wet the bed again. We grew up in the 70's and 80's. Our children, aged 31-11 have all experienced the hardship and the hunger which drives us not only to work hard to exceed the expectations of others, but also to supersede the history of their family. Our kids are told to bath and shower, leave food on their plates and so forth as to us, this is luxury.
So when I was offered the chance to read this book, I jumped at to see if there was a commonality, a thread through which I could feel kinship with others who deal with the continuing subjugation, appropriation and misunderstanding of what constitutes a working class voice whilst amplifying this authentic reality.
And it was writ large on every single page.
The anthology could not have come at a better time, when the gap between rich and poor, privilege and poverty is stretched beyond imagining, widened by the events of last year and this. It's a drive to build others up, as Kerry Hudson says, 'send the elevator back down'.
We know just how hard the road has been, deal daily with the guilt of being able to enjoy our achievements whilst acknowledging our backgrounds. It's a protection mechanism, the way we guard ourselves against this sitaution of disconnection, otherness which is often replicated without a sense of understanding. You can see it in various aspects of the media , which is why it is so important that the gamut of people who gave their works to 'The 32' crosses disciplines, media platforms, forms and fiction. It is so very important to acknowledge your roots in order to understand where you are reaching to and yet, making peace with this notion is not easy.
There is still that assumption that you should 'know your place', 'stay in your lane' , however, the one thing that comes through loud and clear, is that these people have been stoked with fire in their fingers and passion in their guts.
They want accessibility and appreciation of lived experience to be understood, from what is seen a s limiter, to be challenged and changed into activism-Rosaleen McDonagh is a traveller, disabled, female and Irish, her reality and what she has been through drives her to be active in a way that many people who come from privilege will never understand. She reaches her hand out for others to be pulled up, and to illuminate so that I think those reading will , maybe, just maybe, get that if you have a voice, to not use it to amplify others is a waste. Such a waste.
My hopes are two-fold-that it reaches as wide an audience as possible in showing the unique, Irish working class experience is a journey, not a destination, and that it encourages other writers to be sought out, followed and championed.
Actually, make that 3 fold-I sincerely hope for more writing like this, across the British Isles. Because, if we only listen to pre dominant voices, all we will here are representations of ourselves reflected through the lens of white, male privilege. Handed out freely, never really understood, capable of giving so much more than it takes.
I love books like these because seeing what I have felt, the conflict, the confusion, the guilt and the anger which is unique to having to fight for every step forward is so often tamped down by those 'above' you. The more we speak, the more we read, the more we tell our children what it is like, the more we learn. And that, to me, could never be a bad thing.
July 19, 2021
What struck me about The 32 was its unique theme – the significance of class in writing as a profession. Paul McVeigh has enlisted writers from across Ireland who identify as working class – both established authors as well as first-time writers, all sharing their life stories and the role class has played in where they came from, where they are now, and everything in between. Focusing specifically on the working class, McVeigh highlights individuals who love to weave stories, talk about their lives, create magic through words, but might not have the means to be able to do so. As a lifelong reader, The 32 has been an eye opener in the kinds of books available to us. Paul McVeigh created this anthology by Irish voices, but his questions to the publishing industry can be addressed anywhere in the world. The 32 is a very different but relevant book for the kind of subjects it addresses. It makes you view reading and writing and literature as a whole in new ways. 3.5/5
For the entire review:
https://tomesandtales365.wordpress.co...
For the entire review:
https://tomesandtales365.wordpress.co...
November 18, 2021
There are some very good stories in this collection which has 16 from fairly well-known writers and 16 from other emerging writers.
My favourites were:
Rick O'Shea - Two Word Terms
Roddy Doyle - The Likes of You
Erin Lindsay - Working Class is Authenticity
Jason Hynes - Shake the bottle
Michael Nolan - The night of the wake
Riley Johnston - Improper
Danielle McLoughlin - Four Green Fields
Rosaleen McDonagh - Nostalgia
Dave Lordan - Revelations
Abby Oliveira - All the world's ends
There are more less-established writers on that list. Just goes to show it's worth doing these anthologies to discover hidden talent.
Dr. Michael Pierce has an academic essay as well on the state of Irish working class writing in 2021.
My favourites were:
Rick O'Shea - Two Word Terms
Roddy Doyle - The Likes of You
Erin Lindsay - Working Class is Authenticity
Jason Hynes - Shake the bottle
Michael Nolan - The night of the wake
Riley Johnston - Improper
Danielle McLoughlin - Four Green Fields
Rosaleen McDonagh - Nostalgia
Dave Lordan - Revelations
Abby Oliveira - All the world's ends
There are more less-established writers on that list. Just goes to show it's worth doing these anthologies to discover hidden talent.
Dr. Michael Pierce has an academic essay as well on the state of Irish working class writing in 2021.
July 27, 2021
This is a brilliant collection of short stories that give a voice to those who may not always break into the writing industry.
By highlighting writers of all backgrounds we all benefit, to enjoy a rich diverse world of literature everyone should be able to share their work.
This book contains 16 unknown Irish authors along side more established writers. What has been accomplished is a wide array of stories, something that will appeal to everyone.
I loved it and feel it will be a book I constantly dip in and out of.
Highly recommended.
By highlighting writers of all backgrounds we all benefit, to enjoy a rich diverse world of literature everyone should be able to share their work.
This book contains 16 unknown Irish authors along side more established writers. What has been accomplished is a wide array of stories, something that will appeal to everyone.
I loved it and feel it will be a book I constantly dip in and out of.
Highly recommended.
May 3, 2022
The title 32 reflects the number of counties in Ireland, north and south. These are essays from writers from working class backgrounds including people who grew up in rural areas. I must admit I always have associated being working class with urban areas. Perhaps this is a reflection of the lack of a consistent definition for the phrase. There is exploration of what it means to be working class across the collection. Above all, it struck me, that the contributors were, above all, people who have not enjoyed privilege. The privilege of attending schools that brought them connections and access to the best futures. The privilege of never having to wonder how they will pay for the necessities of life - food, shelter, clothing. The privilege of speaking the right language, and the status dialect. The privilege of knowing the right people who will give you a hand up, often at every step.
These essays are varied, and were never boring. They are about becoming writers even though most people in their environments including families, teachers, and society, didn't see that as viable. Often the writers described "passing" - they learned how to change to way they dressed, and the way they talked. In this collection, my favorite essay was by Rosaleen Mc Donagh. McDonagh was born into a large Traveler family with cerebral palsy. Travelers are a highly marginalized ethnic minority in Irish culture. They commonly live in caravans on sites on public land. There is a high rates of illiteracy as many children leave the education system in their early adolescence. Up to 50% are unemployed, and the health of the community is significantly poorer than the general population. Mc Donagh represents the intersection of class, disability, and ethnicity. Her short essay was, for me, the most powerful in the collection.
Highly recommended.
These essays are varied, and were never boring. They are about becoming writers even though most people in their environments including families, teachers, and society, didn't see that as viable. Often the writers described "passing" - they learned how to change to way they dressed, and the way they talked. In this collection, my favorite essay was by Rosaleen Mc Donagh. McDonagh was born into a large Traveler family with cerebral palsy. Travelers are a highly marginalized ethnic minority in Irish culture. They commonly live in caravans on sites on public land. There is a high rates of illiteracy as many children leave the education system in their early adolescence. Up to 50% are unemployed, and the health of the community is significantly poorer than the general population. Mc Donagh represents the intersection of class, disability, and ethnicity. Her short essay was, for me, the most powerful in the collection.
Highly recommended.
August 20, 2021
I thought this started out brilliantly but I was about half way through when it started to fall away for me. The last couple of essays brought it back up but a few stories that missed the mark took the shine off it for me.
April 9, 2022
Some of these stories are touching, some less so (more
boring). I didn’t end up reading them all. I think the idea of it (stories about being working class) made me think. It’s good to give attention to these writers as indeed many see being a writer as a class luxury, yet another part of me struggles with the concept, wondering if that doesn’t somehow divide, making it “a thing”, a label of separation. Like with all forms of discrimination we need to be aware that it exists, but unfortunately this awareness can also get complicated and makes us overthink in our evaluation of individuals, and brings an extra layer into the equation.
boring). I didn’t end up reading them all. I think the idea of it (stories about being working class) made me think. It’s good to give attention to these writers as indeed many see being a writer as a class luxury, yet another part of me struggles with the concept, wondering if that doesn’t somehow divide, making it “a thing”, a label of separation. Like with all forms of discrimination we need to be aware that it exists, but unfortunately this awareness can also get complicated and makes us overthink in our evaluation of individuals, and brings an extra layer into the equation.
August 5, 2024
finished this one like 2 weeks ago and forgot to log. really liked it. bought it in ireland and it is a great look into the world of the working class over there
September 7, 2021
This anthology comes from the realisation that there are more hurdles on the road to publication for working class writers than for those from more affluent backgrounds and that often these working class voices are lost. The compllilation comprises essays and memoirs from 16 writers who have delved into the written word, all with a similar desire for their voice and experience the voice of the Irish working class to be alive, heard and shared. They come from all over the island of Ireland and share a plethora of experiences of being working class. There is a mix of already famous names like Roddy Doyle, emerging voices like Lisa McInerney and shining stars like Lyra McKee, who was taken from us much too soon, but whose words live on to shape us. Their voices are raw, real, poignant and reflect the richness of working class life. As a Northern Irish, working class woman, I saw my own experiences dance across the pages, my own life mapped between the words - that desire to escape, but never quite fitting in to any class bracket, the reality and recollections of an early life during The Troubles in a Protestant community, but not quite accepted in either due to my father's job, realising that acceptance of these experiences is key, that the harsh realities shaped me/ us and how richer we are to see these experiences in print so they are remembered and not lost. These stories must be told and shared as vital reflections of real lives and role models. Powerful reading. Thank you Pigeonhole and Paul McVeigh.
July 28, 2021
This was an absolutely incredible read , I had high hopes and they were definitely met !
This is a collection of memoirs that celebrate the working class Irish autuors , this book shows you the struggles that they faced and how they overcame it to succeed , some of the names you will recognised but it is also so lovely to find out and meet new people through the book.
It was a brilliant, insightful read that you do learn a lot from and you also get to know authors that you hadn't heard of , books like these are so important to remind us of the struggles other people go through to be noticed in the book world. It is brilliantly done with essays and memoirs , I have a bigger appreciation for the authors in the book and all authors !
This is a collection of memoirs that celebrate the working class Irish autuors , this book shows you the struggles that they faced and how they overcame it to succeed , some of the names you will recognised but it is also so lovely to find out and meet new people through the book.
It was a brilliant, insightful read that you do learn a lot from and you also get to know authors that you hadn't heard of , books like these are so important to remind us of the struggles other people go through to be noticed in the book world. It is brilliantly done with essays and memoirs , I have a bigger appreciation for the authors in the book and all authors !
September 4, 2021
This is a really engrossing anthology of Irish working class writers, telling stories of their own or others lives. It’s an insight into what it’s like to be Irish and working class.
There are 32 authors - some well known, others less so, but all telling really readable stories. I enjoy short story collections, and they’re a great way of finding new-to-me authors. This book was no exception.
Highly recommended. Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book.
There are 32 authors - some well known, others less so, but all telling really readable stories. I enjoy short story collections, and they’re a great way of finding new-to-me authors. This book was no exception.
Highly recommended. Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book.
July 29, 2021
Such a diverse range of voices and experiences. So many resonated with me and brought back memories of my childhood. Others were thought provoking and made me question my own preconceptions. A wonderful read - something for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to all the contributors and to Pigeonhole for an early copy
July 31, 2021
The 32 is a wonderful anthology of Irish voices, some well known, such as Roddy Doyle, and some not. So honest and moving and many of the memories and essays resonated with my own experiences. The pieces demonstrate that ‘working class’ is not a stereotype but as diverse and rich as any other ‘class’. Fabulous writing.
July 30, 2021
It's a sad but true fact that working class authors find it difficult to get their books published so I hope this collection of short stories will go some way to redress the balance. This is an eclectic mix of stories from some established Irish authors but also some up and coming ones and I enjoyed it immensely.
December 9, 2021
GIFTED COPY
April 25, 2022
Delicious!
I expected short stories, I got short biographical vignettes, so much better than expected. However, the book started a bit slowly for me. This may well be a consequence of my expectations rather than a reflection on the first stories/vignettes. Interesting take away from my reading, the UK is still very classist in a way that neither Ireland nor the US is. One author (from NI) pointed out that by answering the question of where she went to school (we’re talking secondary school here) she would be telling everything about herself — her religion, her socioeconomic status, the quality of her entire education, and in doing so, putting herself into a box. Their education system is very different from the US system, so maybe that’s comparing apples to avocados now that I think about it, but the point is the class angst seemed stronger from the NI authors.
Having said that, the point of the anthology and its “companion” book, “Common People,” a similar anthology of British voices is well taken. Voices of those who actually have to work to put food on the table are the minority in the arts because often those people are too tired to write after or before work.
These voices are well worth listening too. Not all are new!
I expected short stories, I got short biographical vignettes, so much better than expected. However, the book started a bit slowly for me. This may well be a consequence of my expectations rather than a reflection on the first stories/vignettes. Interesting take away from my reading, the UK is still very classist in a way that neither Ireland nor the US is. One author (from NI) pointed out that by answering the question of where she went to school (we’re talking secondary school here) she would be telling everything about herself — her religion, her socioeconomic status, the quality of her entire education, and in doing so, putting herself into a box. Their education system is very different from the US system, so maybe that’s comparing apples to avocados now that I think about it, but the point is the class angst seemed stronger from the NI authors.
Having said that, the point of the anthology and its “companion” book, “Common People,” a similar anthology of British voices is well taken. Voices of those who actually have to work to put food on the table are the minority in the arts because often those people are too tired to write after or before work.
These voices are well worth listening too. Not all are new!
July 29, 2021
This is an extremely interesting and informative anthology! it contains 32 short stories and memoirs written by 16 known writers along 16 unknown writers. What they all have in common is their working-class background. Each story reflects on their hopes, lives, disadvantages and benefits surrounding a life of a working-class family. I particularly appreciated that each piece of writing is not political. The reader can make up his/her own mind and simply enjoy the stories. The introduction and the end of the book do give a political overview which helps understand the social situations, class distinctions, history of Ireland (Ulster and Eire) which, I find, is not to be compared with other European countries...
Thank you very much, Paul and all 32 writers for letting me read this anthology for free on Pigeonhole!
Thank you very much, Paul and all 32 writers for letting me read this anthology for free on Pigeonhole!
November 13, 2021
This is a book which is a collection of 32 essays and stories by writers of the Irish working class - it felt like something I'd relate to much more than I did.
There were definitely a few highlights, The Night Of The Wake by Michael Nolan, Geepads by June Caldwell and Are Ye Going Out Tonight? by Clare Allan to name a few. I was definitely more impressed by the humorous, observation of normal daily life type stories and less with the more serious social or politically themed contributions. Some of them just didn't strike a chord with me or were more essay than story and essays are just not my thing.
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed a good half of the book and it's certainly a good way to get a glimpse at some writers I was unaware of.
There were definitely a few highlights, The Night Of The Wake by Michael Nolan, Geepads by June Caldwell and Are Ye Going Out Tonight? by Clare Allan to name a few. I was definitely more impressed by the humorous, observation of normal daily life type stories and less with the more serious social or politically themed contributions. Some of them just didn't strike a chord with me or were more essay than story and essays are just not my thing.
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed a good half of the book and it's certainly a good way to get a glimpse at some writers I was unaware of.
March 27, 2025
I really enjoyed how varied the stories were throughout this, and even how varied the format of each was. A common thread I noticed throughout was family and the connections we have with them, as if this is fundamental to what it means to be working class. I appreciated how each author was almost questioning themselves and how there feels like a lot of pressure to be ‘proper’ working class. In a strange way I feel like this solidified my position as working class hearing stories with such similar experiences, growing up in the same streets as I did and even one set in the same school I went to.
August 17, 2022
This is a brilliant collection of essays reflecting the working class experience in Ireland, and how class identity differs in Ireland to Britain - for example, how class divisions are different in rural areas. There's a really good mix of both emerging and established writers. I think my favourite piece was Roddy Doyle's, mainly because I loved the righteous eloquent anger, and the swearing.
May 23, 2024
This book evoked so many emotions - there was one story that shocked me, another made me want to be the wing woman for the author, another a stark reminder of what it felt like to be Irish in England in the 70s……so much to relate to and so much unrelatable to in terms of class but always relatable in terms of Irishness. Loved the sociological analysis and the mention of Brenda Murphy.
July 29, 2021
An interesting compilation of stories from all different angles and experiences would have been 5 stars but I didn’t enjoy a couple of the stories.
July 29, 2021
The 32 is a celebration of working class voices in a series of short stories, poems and observations. A different genre to what I would normally read.
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July 31, 20213.5 stars
August 21, 2021
A good and interesting selection, very diverse and informative.
December 24, 2021
Excellent book.
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