Product Description

The immigration man read my deportation order, looked at it and handed it back to me. 'Are you Irish?' he asked me. 'No' I said 'as a matter of fact, I'm Yemenite Arab.' Two detectives came forward who were evidently there to meet me. 'Apparently he is Brendan Behan,' they said. The immigration officer shook my hand and his hard face softened. 'Cead mile failte romhat abhaile.' (A hundred thousand welcomes home to you.) I could not answer. There are no words and it would be impertinence to try. I walked down the gangway. I was free. First published after Brendan Behan's tragic death, Confessions of an Irish Rebel picks up where Borstal Boy left off. Not only is it the last instalment of a unique and unorthodox autobiography, but of a unique and unorthodox life that was as touched with genius as it was with doom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37395 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 259 pages

Customer Reviews

funny, gritty, witty,warm and wise
This was involving, intriguing as I knew nothing about the world of which he writes, or the man himself, other than he's in a Shane Macgowan song. He comes across as warm, canny, clever, and utterly true to himself. I loved it. I'm not suprised Shane Macgowan admires him. It's one of my favourite books, and Ireland springs out of his words. I couldn't put it down either, and wish I could find his poems somewhere (hint hint)

A Rebel WITH a cause
Brendan Behan is a modern Irish legend, a kind of urban myth come true.

In Confessions of an Irish rebel, Behan continues to regale us with his astonishing wit and general bawdy humour, peppered with comments that give a glimpse of the man and his intelligence.

Brendan gives us more of a celebration of his raison d'etre than confessions of a man both loved and loathed by his very jailers; this time he even manages to land in serioius trouble with the Irish police as opposed to his sworn enemy, the English police force.

We see his escapades in and around Ireland, carousing with whores and singing loyalist anthems at the top of his lungs - he even manages a bit of paid work along the way. All of this is underpinned by a strong narrative and a deeply ingrained political conscience.

Don't miss this book; whatever your persuasion, political or otherwise, Behan will grip you from the beginning and have you laughing all the way to the pub!

Unputdownable!
Am still in the process of reading this book, but find that I'm sneaking a read even at work. Thoroughly recommendable!