Oscar Wilde -- W. B Yeats -- James Joyce

"Colm Tóibín begins his incisive, revelatory Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know with a walk through the Dublin streets where he went to university--a wide-eyed boy from the country--and where three Irish literary giants also came of age: Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce. Elegant, profound, and riveting, Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know illuminates not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways these men surface in their work. Through these stories of fathers and sons, Tóibín recounts the resistance to English cultural domination, the birth of modern Irish cultural identity, and the extraordinary contributions of these complex and masterful authors"--

Tóibín introduces us to the Dublin streets where three Irish literary giants-- Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce-- grew up. He explores not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways these men surface in their sons' work. He recounts the resistance to English cultural domination and the birth of modern Irish cultural identity that are reflected in their stories of fathers and sons. -- adapted from jacket