The Book of Intrusions

by Desmond MacNamara

In the tradition of Flann O'Brien's comic Irish extravaganzas, Desmond MacNamara's novel is a hilarious excursion into Irish history and literature. A gentleman named Mountmellik and his servant MacGilla escape from the Limbo where characters from unfinished literary works are trapped, and enjoy life on Earth so much that they summon from Limbo other literary characters: a young woman named Loreto Amargamente (from an unfinished story by F. Scott Fitzgerald), an Irish maiden named Liadin (from George Moore's unrealized historical novel), and, most terrifying, the eight-feet-tall Eevell of Craglee, Queen of the Munster Hosts of Fairy. These five hatch a scheme by which they can spring more characters from literary Limbo and, by finishing and publishing their stories, send them to Parnassus, all the while holding the author captive so that they themselves won't be forced to go. But during a bizarre climax, the author escapes and sends this novel to his publisher, immortalizing them against their will. Throughout the novel are yarns, digressions, and speculations, the centerpiece being a forty-page retelling of the story of the legendary Irish poets Curither and Liadin. Like O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds, it mixes the glorious Irish literary past with its messy present and has a good deal of fun at the expense of the novel as an art form.

213 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billed as a novel in the “tradition of Flann O’Brien’s comic Irish extravganzas”, The Book of Intrusions is a slab of weird metafiction that owes a huge debt to At Swim-Two-Birds in its mingling of pomo with the historical. Characters from unfinished works start appearing in the scribe’s novel, existing in a form of limbo before being ushered into new works (had MacNamara read Mulligan Stew?!), the two principals being MacGilla and Mountmellik who summon two women from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story and a George Moore adaptation of Irish folk tale Curither and Liadin (the tale of which is retold here, and comprises one fifth of the novel) into the fray. This novel is anarchic, heaving with trivia on Irish folklore, places, and stories, and its erudition and tremendous prose (on a par with Flann), elevates it into the pantheon of Irish Greats. A slight ennui in the final third? Perhaps. But MacNamara needs some readers. One more? You?

[Rachel Wen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but it was so difficult to get through. A lot of the characters ramble on so even the other characters tell them to get to the point and that didn’t send up any red flags for the author I guess. One star is simply for using a huge variety of words that had me googling constantly. I would recommend reading the postscript first, it at least gives some slight context.