The Irish Times reviews a selection of paperbacks
The Selected Works of Cyril Connolly: Vol. I, The Modern Movement; Vol. II, The Two Natures Picador, £9.99 each
Cyril Connolly, who died in 1974, was one of the finest English literary critics of the 20th century. An always prominent member of a gilded generation that included Evelyn Waugh, W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and George Orwell, Connolly set out in confident expectation of becoming a great novelist but was ambushed along the way by sloth and self-doubt and settled instead for being a mere critic. In fact, his criticism, a generous helping of which is offered in these two handsome volumes, is more exciting, stylish and, yes, creative, than the work of a great many of the successful novelists of his time. As these two volumes show, Connolly, almost despite himself, deserved his shining place in what he called "the bright empyrean of European thought". - John Banville
Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey Janet Malcolm Granta, £8.99
Here, Janet Malcolm takes a literary pilgrimage back to the places that Anton Chekhov inhabited and en route discusses his work, using the geographical locations and her experiences as a backdrop to her illuminating insight and unconventional literary criticism. She reveals the writer's work in all its glory, and throws off any notion of Chekhov as a diffident, delicate writer. Although unashamedly affectionate and sympathetic, it gives excellent interpretations of his texts and finds elusive common threads between his works that are both erudite and original. Because of Malcolm's writing this book will serve the Chekhovian scholar as well as those new to his work ; the end result is the same, you can't help but go scurrying off to reread those wonderful short stories or start looking out for a production near you of Uncle Vanya or Three Sisters. - Laurence Mackin
Seek My Face John Updike Penguin, £7.99
True, he has never written about war, nor is he haunted by a European past. John Updike is as WASP as they come. But his feel for language is as sure-footed as that of J.M. Coetzee. Updike's critics demean him for his specialist subject, middle-class adultery US-style, but are to be pitied for missing his understanding of what it means to be human, alive and guilty as hell. Seek My Face, his 20th novel, is far from his finest. Ignore two dead former artist husbands based on Pollock and Warhol. Look instead to the main event. Hope, an artist, now old, is more famous for surviving her husbands. A young journalist interviews her at length. Updike's genius lies in his portrayal of the two women; age and youth; regret and uneasy ambition. Meditation, lament and cross- examination collide with truth and realisation as Hope discovers herself, time passing and past. - Eileen Battersby
All of Us There Polly Devlin Virago, £7.99
It's not easy to write lyrically without sounding like a Hallmark Mother's Day card, but Polly Devlin gets full marks for prose-poetry in her memoir. Taken from a poem by her brother-in-law, Seamus Heaney, the title refers to thicket of sisterhood in which Devlin grew up in the 1950s in the townland of Muinterevlin, one of 30 in the parish of Ardboe in Co Tyrone. In vivid and sensual language she describes the kind of isolated, rural existence almost eradicated in Europe by the development of high-speed transport and information media in the last 50 years. This many-layered reminiscence glints across the indifferent, mysterious yet comfortable countryside, classrooms fraught with the usual student shenanigans and insecurities and the intensity of Devlin's close relationship with her five sisters. - Christine Madden
Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller Little, Brown, £12.99
Saturday Night Live has long been American comedy's star factory. Its first cast included Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Akroyd and it seems to have churned out stars at will. It has never had much of an airing in this part of the world, but in the US its early years, especially, are legendary; stoned writers and cast brought in political satire, pushed the boundaries of American comedy and achieved rock star status in the process. This oral history features cast members, writers, producers and star guests and forms an exhaustive, adoring record of the show's almost 20-year existence. It assumes a knowledge of sketches and famous moments that most Irish readers will lack, but it has great personality and some superb anecdotes. Its section on the night Sinead O'Connor tore up a picture of the Pope is a particular treat. - Shane Hegarty
Outside 25 Edited by Hal Espen W.W. Norton, £12.95
Ever wondered what it would be like to track wolves in Romania, or hang out with the "vadra" gangs of Bohemia in Czechoslovakia? Interested? Outside 25 gathers together the best articles and essays in a collection to celebrate 25 years of the magazine's dedication to the Great Outdoors. Enjoy Tim Cahill's ripping yarn about the secret salt mines of Mali, Join Sebastian Junger on his trip to the Caribbean island of Bequia, where he meets the imposing Atheal Ollivere, last of the whale hunters. Share the experiences of police officers patrolling the vast expanse of Angeles National Park on the outskirts of LA, as described in lush prose by Randall Sullivan, and relish Sarah Corbett's piece on a modern male tribe, The Skateboarders, and Cara Beth Burnside's efforts to be recognised as an equal amongst them. A marvellous, muscular, exciting collection. - Ken Walshe