Irish on the Inside: In Search of the Soul of Irish-America Hardcover – 13 Nov. 2001

An urgent book, fueled by a great, somber energy...[and] a valuable guide to the craziness of a troubled area. Tom Hayden's Irish on the Inside is the stuff of great awakenings--not merely for Irish-Americans but for the descendants of every immigrant who ever embraced the revolutionary ideals of justice and solidarity that are both Irish and American. ...takes the American political and journalistic establishment to task for its pro-British bias. A radical in the oldest, truest sense of the word, Tom Hayden has never abandoned the search for root meanings and root truths. Tom's newest book, Irish on the Inside, is an eloquent, engaging, fiercely honest part of that research. His narrative will be of enduring interest to anyone wishing to explore Irish history, or immigrant identity, or the American experience. --Peter Quinn Hayden's book stirs our complacency and forces us to rethink what being Irish is all about. --Patricia Harty A valuable contribution...a tale of one man's odyssey from being a head under the parapet, Irish descended political activist in California to being a fully paid-up member of that large and respectable class, the Irish American peaceniks. --Tim Pat Coogan This is a remarkable tale of an entire people and a single individual. Tom Hayden's journey of discovery is riveting: candid, insightful and brave, Irish on the Inside should be read by anyone looking for an insight into modern American society. There's news here, too, as Hayden takes us behind the scenes during the early years of the Irish peace process. --Terry Golway Every Irish American (and everyone in Ireland, too) should read Tom Hayden's brilliant and passionate book. It is startlingly refreshing for its honesty, idealism, and keen analysis of both Irish-American society and of Northern Ireland's fragile 'peace process.' --Kerby Miller "Every Irish American (and everyone in Ireland, too) should read Tom Hayden's brilliant and passionate book ... startlingly refreshing."--Kerby Miller, University of Missouri "Few Americans, and in fact few observers of any nationality, have written about that tormented province [Northern Ireland] with such sympathy and clarity, and it's a relief to encounter someone taking the American political and journalistic establishment to task for its pro-British bias ... a work of the poetic imagination, lovely, imagistic prose"--Andrew O'Hehir, "New York Times" "If you only read one book about Irish America, this should be it."--Niall O'Dowd, "Irish Independent" "Reveals Tom Hayden as a dreamer and a rebel. Could any Irish person ask for a greater honour?"--Martin O Muilleoir, Editor, "Andersontown News" "Stirs our complacency and forces us to rethink what being Irish is all about."--Patricia Harty, Editor, "Irish America" "Tear down the lace curtain, dump the fruit and wake up, Joey. It's timeto be something besides tired. This book is history over amnesia."--Frank McCourt, "Los Angeles Times Cover Review" "Tom Hayden's Irish on the Inside is the stuff of great awakenings--not merely for Irish-Americans but for the descendants of every immigrant who ever embraced the revolutionary ideals of justice and solidarity that are both Irish and American."--John Nichols, "Capital Times"

Tom Hayden explores the psychic, emotional and political consequences of the erasure of a rebellious Irish heritage by generations seeking the respectability of American assimilation. This, he argues, has yielded to an Irish American literature of sentimentality typified by the work of Frank McCourt and to high rates of schizophrenia, depression, and alcoholism within the community. By re-inhabiting their history, today's Irish-Americans could recognize their links to others now experiencing the prejudice once directed at their forefathers and thereby offer an independent Irishness to global movements for peace and justice.