The Consequence

This highly entertaining and original debut places its protagonist, Fintan Kearney, professor of English literature at an Irish university, in a seductive quandary: family, friends, and his London publisher are about to launch his autobiographical first novel, Gone the Time (a phrase used by Irish bartenders at closing time), but the supposed author has no recollection of having written the thing or what it's about. Faced with the choice of admitting the truth and facing public ridicule, or tolerating the charade in the hope that the book will disappear after publication, Fintan chooses the latter and is horrified to see the novel, hailed as the defining document of Ireland's ``Perrier generation,'' go on to become a controversial bestseller. His discomfiture turns to desperation when he learns that the book features thinly disguised portrayals of college friends and maligns three pivotal influences on his life-his Uncle Pearse, his early mentor Eugene Waters, and the much-revered Irish writer Brendan Behan. To set the record straight, Fintan begins to write an authentic and affectionate memoir of the three men, discovering some valuable lessons about the nature of creativity along the way. Written with warm sensitivity to the rhythms of Irish humor and speech, this brilliantly structured and executed metafictional novel is essentially comic, but its playful aspect frames a more serious exploration of the hazy links between fiction and reality. (Oct.)