Philip MacCann

The stories were described by one reviewer as having "the nervous, risky feel of someone doodling with razor blades", with technical innovations and the strangeness of the imagery aiming for "aesthetic ecstasy". "MacCann's risky use of language, his weirdly beautiful style, inspires optimism, lifting the spirit as great art does. He's an immensely talented and original writer," wrote Time Out magazine. The story combines black humour and, at times, over-rich language to seduce readers into embracing tales of intense suffering—an effect that may mirror how characters are tempted by guilty joys. ==Themes==

One explanatory phrase on the cover of the first edition "spiritual despair", perhaps helps to explain the ruthlessness and strangeness of Nature, its inappropriateness for human sensitivity and the ease with which evil is perpetrated, even in intimate relationships (whether between dysfunctional lovers or oppressive parents). One hallmark of the style is how scenes are dramatized with cold detachment and without authorial comment, assisting the realism. A recurring motif in these and later stories highlights the struggle of a very young couple coping with pregnancy. The vision shares with some American Catholic literature and some strands of Feminism a brutal vision of male sexuality. Other themes include: sexual rage, violence, frustration and taboos; poverty, prostitution and abuse; psychedelia; transcendentalism, magic and the occult. ==Awards and honours==

• 1995 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature • 2000 Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize ==References==