Time for a Smile by George Ryan (George Ryan £4.80)

We have funny writers in Ireland, with Myles na gCopaleen still leading the field, like Michael Collins in many cinemas these…

We have funny writers in Ireland, with Myles na gCopaleen still leading the field, like Michael Collins in many cinemas these days; however, George Ryan's savage humour is satire which would make Jonathan Swift smirk in his grave in St Patrick's. Ryan, onetime Bridge Correspondent of this newspaper, is a former schoolmaster, and much of his book is devoted to the ploys he and his wastrel colleagues used to cheat pupils, parents, headmasters and school inspectors - not to mention Ministers of Education - out of their rights. Truth is, after reading. Time for a Smile, I just wanted to be back in school armed with the information revealed in it, so that I could blackmail my superiors into handing me the academic honours which I never attained.