Customer Reviews
World class eccentricity - By: michael marron, 25 Oct 2003 
Summary - inspired lunacy
Probably the most imaginative & funniest book I have ever read. Think of an early, but more eccentric, Miles Kington (is the name a coincidence?)
If you ever wanted to take an idea & see just how far it would go, this is for you. If pomposity & pretentiousness irritate the bejasus out of you, read it for ever. If you like Dublin & the Irish you will love them after this. (If you are Irish, you will already have read it or hang your headin shame.)
Marvel at the ingenious Heath Robinson inventions. Pity the poor pomposities he caricatures. Admire the inexorability of logic on speed. And all brought back to reality by the perspicacity of the Plain People of Ireland.
Be tickled every time you re-read it ( & re-read it you will).
Brilliant - By: taking a rest, 18 Dec 2002 Flann O'Brian is absolutely one of the greatest practitioners of language. This collection of his work, "The Best Of Myles", is some of the finest writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. Gaelic, English, French, German, & Latin, are 5 languages he writes fluently. He is the personification of all that is famous of Irish Wit. There appear to be few topics he did not comment upon or release a withering appraisal with pinpoint precision.
Mr. O'Brian wrote for a daily newspaper until his deathin 1966. The volume & quality of the written material he produced is amazing. This 400-page book is one of five that are available & that I intend to read. There is virtually nothing about his personal historyin this volume, so hopefully there is a biographyin print documenting the time he spent learning & practicing his craft. The only downside to this book is that some isin Gaelic with no translation, & there are many articles that will seem to existin isolation if the reader does not have some knowledge of Irish History. Even if these commentaries were removed, the balance of the work would still be a remarkable literary performance.
Some of the best pieces were his comments on the affectationin so many facets of daily life. And his specific attacks on, "bores", & all the pretensions of the world of modern art, & those who would pretend to possess knowledge of which they are bereft. He creates institutes & foundations & companies dedicated to servicing frauds & exposing the truth. Much is for pure fun, but like all humor contains truth. He offers the services of a company that will come to the home of any illiterate with a library, & his people will either rummage through your books for a pittance, or for a more substantial sum, will dog-ear pages, write brilliant marginalia, & leave tickets & programs to various cultural events as though they were misplaced bookmarks. And for those who have the funds, books will receive forged inscriptions from their authors, & letters of thanks to the book's owner for their help with a particularly difficult passage.
This book came at the end of 2001 for me. I hate lists of the best of the year; however nothing I have read this year surpasses this book, absolutely nothing!
