round ireland with a fridge by tony hawks

He proffers an A-to-Z of today's Ireland that is breezy but densely well informed and even, occasionally, footnoted, as if he can't help himself (those scholarly addenda prove pricelessly whimsical). Eagleton is one of the most renowned literary critics, but that doesn't keep him from writing with unusual clarity and wit.

All rights reservedĪ distinguished Oxford scholar and a British comedian each show us a contemporary Ireland blessedly leprechaun-free but, nonetheless, uniquely magical. In the end, Hawks's book becomes a lively celebration of contemporary Irish society and the goodwill of its people that neither revels in irony nor descends into mawkishness. What could have been a convenient contrivance actually allows a kinder and far funnier Hawks to appear, as his daily talks with his radio 'fans' bring him unexpected delights, including encounters with an overenthusiastic innkeeper and his family, the amazing champion surfer Bingo, various musicians and lots of pub visits. Almost overnight, Hawks becomes a regional legendÄ'The Fridge Man'Äwith all sorts of people willing to help him achieve his goal, however silly it may be. Though the book begins inauspiciously as a bad parody of Dave Barry's travel books, with Hawks assuming a smug distance from the people and events he encounters, happily fate intervenes in the form of a jovial radio-show host who convinces Hawks to phone in daily to share updates about his travels with the fridge. When British writer, performer and musician Hawks makes a drunken bet for 100 that he can 'hitchhike round the circumference of Ireland, with a fridge, in one calendar month,' he starts, in 1997, an unexpectedly wonderful adventure into the good-natured soul of the Irish people.

Round ireland with a fridge by tony hawks