This book should be in print! If you can't find it, borrow it. If you want to know about poetry, Ireland, the occult, or Yeats himself, this is the book you need. Not for sustained argument, or surgical analysis; but for the breath and cadence of reminiscence, deep-drawn thought, agonizing self-criticism and a well of images that seep into his poems. Sometimes the pleasure of a phrase obscures accuracy, as he himself admits; but if you can write like this it doesn't matter. Includes the three pivotal essays of the three parts of his life: 'Symbolism and Poetry', 'J.M.Synge and the Ireland of his Time' and 'A General Introduction for my Work' written as preface to a deluxe collected edition of his work that never appeared. Not for the casual browser maybe but rich and deeply rewarding.

Translated and edited by Lady Gregory, founder of the Abbey Theatre, this collection appears, as it claims, to be "complete". If you want a more or less exhaustive volume of Irish mythology, this book is a good choice. However, it reads like a translation: the style has traits of the original Gaelic which make it somewhat difficult to read. Even so, this style is in keeping with the subject and helps one get into an antiquated, Celtic frame of mind. It also includes pronunciation aids for the Gaelic and English translations for proper names (both very helpful), such as Slieve Mis = Co. Kerry, Teamhair = Tara, Co. Meath. The book itself is 550 pp. including notes with a lovely greenwood scene on cover and slipcover.

I took to this book very quickly as the descriptions that the author gave of growing up in Cork were right on the money. I found myself walking with him, having spent some time in Cork I could vividly picture the city. I also felt as though I knew the people that he spoke of in the book. I found it to be a pleasant trip back to Cork, as well as a well written story.

I really enjoyed this book. I never read start to finish, but I copied many of the poems for my own use. This book has so many wonderful poems, and it's very easy to find a poem you're looking for. All you have to do is look in the back of the book and find the first verse in alphabetical order. This is definately a great book to own for all poetry lovers.

The pictures in this book are quiet gorgeous, and the Family Tree lines impressive.

The history compiled within this book is equally impressive spanning over more than 400 years.

This book gives you an overview of The Saddlebred Breed and its background as well as it's uses in society. I would classify this book as a History of the Saddlebred if you will.

When I purchased this book, I was looking for a book that would not only tell me more about the breed itself, but how to work with as well as train this type of horse. I was also interested in learning more about the general characteristics, personality, habits & riding styles of this breed, more that the actual history.

This is an excellent "coffee table" book for horse lovers. I personally was looking for a book that contained more day to day information about the breed, although I did find the material in the book very interesting and somewhat helpful.

In the first section of this book (Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry), Yeats gathered a large number of stories (about 65) on a variety of supernatural subjects. I found some a little perplexing, but most were enjoyable. The second part of this book is Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne. Being unfamiliar with the legend of Cuchulain, I am unable to compare this version with any others. However, I found it to be an interesting tale of an epic hero, although I had difficulty keeping track of the names of all of the characters and locations.

Having only read American variants of Irish folklore, I was caught off guard by the style and structure of the stories. Readers should not expect them to follow the Brothers Grimm, "Once upon a time...happily ever after"-type construction. However, if you're familiar with Irish myths or you're up for trying something new, this collection is thoroughly entertaining.

Flannery takes a myriad of information and transforms it into an incredibly interesting work. I have only once before been so drawn in by a book of such histrionic magnitude. The subject itself needs no attraction; however, Flannery keeps the eyes wide open from page to page, chapter to chapter. I highly recommend this book to anyone having an interest in W.B. Yeats or theatre itself. It tells an interesting tale of much of Irish--as well as English and French--drama, poetry, and its' theatres.

Readable, articulate and superbly well-researched, this biography was obviously written with the whole self of the author put into the task. Yeats's development as a poet in particular is charted discerningly and in its full context; my only criticism is that occasionally exegesis of the poetry is over-simple. This aside, Jeffares evokes Yeats as both man and poet knowingly and with finesse; the book has the type of breadth that makes for the standard biography. Any reader of Yeats could not help but be illuminated by this work.

This is a single cassette in one of those tall boxes that could hold two. The notes are sparse - just a listing of the poems and a capsule bio of Mr. McKenna. The package also claims 80 minutes worth of poetry, but the timings printed on the tape itself for each side (35:29 for side A, 34:04 for B) leave us more than 10 minutes shy of that. I myself have not done the requisite timing, but tend to believe the (spurious?) precision of the tape's numbers.

The readings are workmanlike, and the selections are good. All the famous poems are there, and a good deal more. (Offhand, the only other one I would really like included is "Lapis Lazuli".) Unfortunately, the old recording by Siobhan McKenna (related?) and Cyril Cusack is no longer available. It was truly magical.

My gripe with this is the fact that you need to keep this oversize box around to hold your tape, and to preserve what scanty documentation there is. A regular cassette package with an included info sheet would have been better.