Since Brendan Behan Died, a Lot of Stories Have Grown up About Him, Maybe Too Many

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Since Brendan Behan died, a lot of stories have grown up about him, maybe too many. Some of these are true, some have been juiced up, and some are mythical. They've been tailored to fit the man that the tellers think he was,. Throw a stone in Dublin and the chances are that it will hit someone who. has a Behan tale to tell - usually at closing time in some inner-city pub. This book, written with the active participation of one of the people who knew Brendan Behan best - his brother Brian, aims to cut through the mythology and get at the real Brendan Behan. In Brian's own words: "Many have tried to define the chameleon character that is Brendan Behan, most using cliches like 'rumbustious', 'rowdy', 'brawling' or 'boozy', but the real Brendan was as complex as any of us, a unique composite of scallywag and angel" Behan wrote with a passion and a unique insight into Dublin life, and into life in general, and his best works - including Borstal Boy and The Quare Fellow - are currently enjoying a renaissance of sorts. As BBC political editor John Cole wrote recently in The Guardian: "A wave of Behanism is haunting Europe". The book analyses Behan through his work and through his activities, and in particular through his relationship with his brother, and is the first truly accurate, authentic portrayal of this famous Irish writer, who died well before his time, and who left the literary world the poorer for his passing. The Authors: Brian Behan is the brother of Brendan Behan, and also a playwright in his own right. Based in Brighton, he has written several plays which have been staged internationally, including The Begrudgers, Mother of all the Behans and Boots for the Footless. Aubrey Dillon-Malone is a seasoned, Dublin- based writer whose works include The Sayings of Brendan Behan (Duckworth) .

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