Amazon.com description: Product Description: The Irish have always had a knack for telling wonderful stories, and their fantastic ability has been recognized from early Gaelic times. For centuries, stories of all kinds have been offered to friends and strangers alike as a form of entertainment and communication. Today in Ireland, the short story is revered even above the novel. Hearing these magnificent stories, we become aware of more than just the humor and travail of a small island. In some magical, mysterious fashion as we listen, we all become Irish in a grand, tragic-comedy of life, and these stories show us what makes the human being the special creature he is.

Selections in Volume I:

HOMESICKNESS by George Moore

A doctor urges his young patient to return to his home in Ireland for a visit in order to restore his health. But in the process, the young man learns that America has changed him in ways that estrange him from his Irish bretheren. To complicate matters, he falls in love.

JULIA CAHILL'S CURSE, also by George Moore, is a lyrical tale of a defiant woman who will not bend to the will of a parish priest. This great stereotype of the fiery, independent-minded Irish woman was the first of its kind in modern Irish literature.

INNOCENCE by Sean O'Faolain

In this delicate and heartfelt story of childhood, O'Faolain tells what it's like for a child to enter the confessional box. It is a story both tender and gently humorous.

THE FAIRY GOOSE by Liam O'Flaherty

This is a wonderful fable about the ill effects of religious bigotry and superstition in a small village. It has a light, magical touch as only O'Flaherty could create.

THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRET by Oscar Wilde

With his inimitable, sophisticated, world-weary style, Wilde unfolds a marvelous story of intrigue involving a beautiful woman who behaves in a very mysterious fashion.

ADVENTURES OF A STROLLING PLAYER by Oliver Goldsmith

This rollicking, exuberant tale flows effortlessly from the pen of the great 18th century master storyteller. It is the uproarious story of a travelling player who likes to embellish things a bit.

THE WEAVER'S GRAVE by Seumas O'Kelly

What a wonderful tale of death, ego, tradition, and the renewing strength of love! Set in late 19th century Ireland, this grand story relates the difficulties faced by a Weaver's young widow as she attempts to locate her late husband's family burial plot in an ancient cemetery. She is accompanied on her search by two quarreling village elders and two young sextons. By turns comic and dramatic and filled with a wry insight into human nature, this enchanting work of art is one of the very greatest of Irish short stories.

MY OEDIPUS COMPLEX by Frank O'Connor

In this hilarious tale of a child's struggle to understand his altered relationship with his mother after his father has returned from the first world war, O'Connor reaches comic heights that few have ever scaled. Be prepared to laugh yourself silly.

THE BOARDING HOUSE by James Joyce

Few authors of any age or any language have described the human condition with greater accuracy than James Joyce. In this small jewel of a story, we follow closely the motivations of a group of people in a Dublin boarding house when it is learned that the proprietress's daughter has become pregnant.

THE LEAPING TROUT by David Hogan

In this taut drama, a yong man in league with militant IRA elements tries to snatch a few moments of rest and repose while on a mission to deliver arms. But his peaceful sojourn on a quiet, lonely lake is interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a bolt action rifle being cocked...

3 cassettes

Running Time: 4 hours 58 minutes

Unabridged