Four Green Fields
Wild Irish Banter & Stories, Shenanigans & Poetry
by Greg McVicker
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Pub Date Jul 01 2018 | Archive Date Apr 04 2019
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Description
"We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English." ~ Winston Churchill.
If like Winston Churchill, you have found us to be a bit odd, then myself and my fellow authors, Greg and Mark, have surely done our job. I don't believe that it is possible to be a writer, at least one which people will find entertaining, without being a bit on the quirky side. This of course is a benefit to the reader. Being able to embrace our madness and that of our families, is a trait not common to many. Unashamedly sharing it with the rest of the world is even more rare. It could therefore be said that we are a rare breed. ~ J.P. Sexton.
I once read a story about a non-Irish man who was invited to an Irish wake. He saw everyone dancing and laughing and said, "They must be mad carrying on like this after a funeral." His Irish host answered, "It's the laughter that saves them from madness." That sums up the Irish race and how it has survived so much misery through the centuries. ~ Mark Rickerby.
Just like the strands of Celtic knotwork intricately woven into one another which produces a complicated yet beautiful creation, our aim with this book is to do exactly that: sharing stories of our own survival, quite often through times of much misery. In saying that, however, we are keeping with the true Irish tradition by laughing at ourselves through storytelling, all mixed with a pint of craic and a quart of shenanigans. After all, it is what the Irish are known for! ~ Greg McVicker.
Banter and Craic,
We'll bring it back.
California, Belfast, and Donegal,
We'll tell our stories and entertain them all!
Sláinte mhaith agus go n-éirí an bóthar libh, (Good health and may the road be successful for you),
Mark Rickerby Greg McVicker J.P. Sexton
PS: If you're wondering about the placement of our names, it's to do with where we hail from. Mark Rickerby kicks with his right foot. J.P. Sexton with his left although to be completely honest, he is quite a head the ball. As for Greg McVicker, here I am stuck in the middle with you!
PPS: If you are perhaps curious as to why this wee write up was placed into the Product Description section (after all, inquiring minds want to know), the lovely folks at Amazon only gave us 4,000 characters in here. Since we waffle on without ever seemingly taking a breath, there wasn't enough space for everything we had to say.
If you think that is wacky, wait until you get into our book!
Advance Praise
"There are perhaps hundreds of thousands of books inspired by the emerald isle and I've certainly read my share. Stories from 'the old country' that warm the heart, spark the imagination and reaffirm the human spirit. And although fantastic reads, many have left me feeling as if I'd just read a grand and glorious obituary. Not with Four Green Fields. It's less a ticket back to a world long gone by than a reminder that such magic is still very much alive right here and now. Four Green Fields is not an epitaph but an invitation to seed your own patch and to watch it grow."
Colin Cunningham
American Television and Film Actor, Writer, Director
Falling Skies, Stargate SG-1
Featured Reviews
Jamie B, Reviewer
As an American of Irish descent who has visited Ireland twice, in the 1980s and 1990s, I felt like this book’s stories, insights, and modern poetry very much reflected the Ireland that I knew back then. These three writers have let us into their worlds, both the ones in which they grow up and the ones they are living in now. I did spend some time in Northern Ireland when The Troubles were making an impact on daily lives in numerous ways; this certainly brings back those struggles and gives them a face and voice (so to speak). This book is not wholly focused on Northern Ireland, but a lot of it is about that small patch of the island. We learn a bit about republic sections of Ireland; we also hear stories from a person who is now a part of modern Irish diaspora. The authors have a way of writing that draws you in, whether narrative or poetic, and I can actually hear the words spoken in an Irish brogue; I think the words make more sense if your brain hears them that way! And it is more engaging. While the contents of this book are not always easy ones, I enjoyed this little literary trip back to Ireland.
