Leaning on Gates

In the sequel to Seamus O-Rourke-s popular first memoir, Standing in Gaps, this innocent Leitrim lad finally flees the nest, briefly sampling life in New York, Dublin and London - before inevitably returning to his beloved, duller than dishwater existence at home - a life which now includes alcohol, Doctor Hook and some low-budget romance.

But man does not live on romance alone and Seamus needs to get to the bottom of his general uselessness, spurred on as always by his ever-the-realist father, who prophesised his mediocrity from an early age. Seamus continues to underachieve whilst struggling to interpret his auld lad-s advice and watered-down compliments - -You weren-t as bad as I often saw ya-, -They must be badly stuck, if they asked you-, and the classic -What kind of an eejit are ya?- - all while capturing the innocence and the absurdity of rural life in 1980s and 1990s Ireland.

As always, O-Rourke finds diamond-tipped-needles in bales of really bad hay, p