Conor: A Biography of Conor Cruise O'Brien

Born in Dublin in 1917 to parents with strong social and political pedigrees, Cruise O'Brien was stunned by his father's death in 1927. With the help of his parents' friends (among them James Joyce), he was able to continue his education through to Trinity College. Upon graduation, he entered the Irish Civil Service's Department of External Affairs, where he worked with Foreign Minister Sean MacBride in the Costello coalition government. He later held a ministerial post at the U.N.; taught at universities in the U.S. and Africa; and was Minister of Posts and Telegraphs (during which he continued the IRA ban on the government airways). Akenson (God's People) also looks at Cruise O'Brien's two marriages and dalliances (commenting, ``There were no men in his sex life and no significant sexual deviations''-whatever that means). An overly sympathetic portrayal of one of the more controversial and public Irish politicians of our day. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)