Passion and Cunning and Other Essays

In this provocative, wide-ranging collection, O'Brien ( Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism ) answers those who have accused him of being unduly harsh toward the Pope, betraying the anti-apartheid movement, contributing to campus disorders in South Africa and harboring ``anti-anti-Communist political passions'' (this last from neo-conservative Norman Podhoretz). O'Brien is certainly not an admirer of John Paul II (see ``God and Man in Nicaragua''), going so far as to suggest that lay Catholics pay more attention to the Pope's attractive appearance than to his teachings. The title piece, published in 1965, is still the subject of controversy, containing what one scholar called ``probably the most offensive remark in the entire canon of Yeats criticism.'' The essay is about the Irish poet's politics, with particular reference to his attitude toward German fascism; O'Brien clarifies his stand in the introduction. Other pieces in the collection discuss apartheid, terrorism, press freedom, the Irish Republican Army, and the ambiguous nature of anti-Americanism in Nicaragua. (September)