Bøker av Michael O'Leary

The Irish Annals of New Zealand is essentially a Joycean tour-de-force through New Zealand's history from the Irish rather than the usual English point of view. However, as well as historical facts the novel incorporates many other linguistic and language conceits and concepts. The story begins with the main character falling from a train, having opened the wrong door because he is drunk. He lies dying alone in the falling snow of the central North Island. During the course of the novel he is visited by several of his ancestors, Irish and Maori, who tell him about his life. He also turns into other life forms. Straight was adapted for the theatre and reviews of the play are below the reviews of the book.Responses to Michael O'Leary's novel The Irish Annals of New ZealandThe Irish Annals of New Zealand is from the other side of the fence, mixing the stories of the two rebel cultures in this country - the Irish and the Māori'.Richard Langston, Dominion Sunday Times, 10 March 1991'Both a long cry of social maladjustment and a virtuoso manipulation of word associations, this novel makes a tuneful medley out of ordinary everyday speech'.David Eggleton, Otago Daily Times 1992'The music was witty, inventive, altogether a piece with the other elements of a production crammed with physical and verbal jokes, wordplay in several languages, pratfalls and profundities, and passages of real pathos'.Martyn Sanderson, Kapiti Observer, 12 February 2001[review of the play Irish Annals of Aotearoa by Simon O'Connor based on O'Leary's The Irish Annals of New Zealand - the play was directed by David O'Donnell with music direction by Chris O'Connor, for which he won Best Original Music at the Chapman Tripp Awards 2001 for his work on the play Irish Annals of Aotearoa. The play was also nominated for several other Chapman Tripp Awards in 2001].'a streamlined, sizzling, lunatic play'Bernadette Hall in Theatre News 2001 [on Irish Annals of Aotearoa]

A novel that explores the effect of modern technology on the individual. It looks at the generation of the 1930s Nazis whose mantra was 'All You Need is Hate' and contrasts it with the 1960s 'All You Need is Love' of The Beatles. Magic Alex fifty years later in the 2000s sits in his Cell Phone cell in a mental hospital and contemplates the modern generation where there's so much communication there's no communication. Another DADA/Surrealist view of present day life. Responses to Michael O'Leary's novel Magic Alex's Revenge 'Magic Alex's Revenge is a complex and often beguiling look at the 'Sixties' generation of peace and love and anti-materialism degenerated into the 'I, me, mine' selfishness sparked by the mid-eighties Rogernomics which continues into the 21st Century Schizoid Person, fuelled by technology and greed'.Brian E. Turner, liner notes 2008 'Many people of Michael O'Leary's generation and later have tried to write a novel in what might be called a post-modernist way. It seems to me that O'Leary has made a success of this mode of fiction simply by working harder and longer than most people, 30 years at least on this book'.Dr. F.W.N. Wright, at the launch of Magic Alex's Revenge

Straight is set in early 1980's Auckland and begins with Paul Calvert's return to that city after several years in the mysterious place called 'Dreamland'. Fighting off several flash-backs he discovers that reality can often be stranger than dreams. Along the way he discovers things about his past that he had no conception of and his whole life is brought into existential question. Was his own birth due to an SS experiment during World War Two to create an 'Aryan Mäori', were his presumed parents gun-runners for the IRA, and who are the people following him around the city in a black Mercedes Benz? Add to this a surreal mix of local characters from the still down-at-heel Ponsonby drug scene and the upper-class opulence of Remuera and you have a novel alive with energy and surprise. In the background is the developing love story of Paul and Hine. Also the city of Auckland becomes a character itself, much in the way Graham Greene used his locations to define and enhance many of his novels. Responses to Michael O'Leary's novel Straight'There has been enough of the humourless and bleak 'man alone' theme in New Zealand writing. Straight is a positive attempt to counter these traditions. In it the main character comes from being isolated to joining a family network'.Inner City News book reviewer, Auckland, 1985'I'd cooked up some ink and charcoal drawings for Michael O'Leary's first novel, Straight which appeared thanks to the guile of Professor Terry Sturm'.Gregory O'Brien, Essay for The Earl is in... Wellington, 2008

First published in 1987 this novel has acquired something of a cult status among both cricket fans and those interested in experimental prose and bohemian lifestyles. It is set in Auckland in the 1980s and is a mixture of stream of conscious internal dialogue between the main character, PSM, and himself. Externally, it follows the fortunes of the NZ cricket team at Eden Park playing against the world famous 'Out of It' eleven which includes Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Jim Morrison, James K Baxter, Bob Marley, all under the captaincy of Te Rauparaha. Each of the Out of It team includes a literary satire or vignette appropriate to that person. Collages by Greg O'Brien spice up the text and further emphasize the surrealist dada nature of the novel. This edition also contains the following short stories: Neither Here Nor ThereZubu and Sambo Leave for AotearoaWhat a Drag it is Getting OldResponses to Michael O'Leary's novel Out of It'If you are a collector of Bohemian cricket memorabilia, this book is for your shelf. It is certainly a boon to te kirikiti o Aotearoa'.-Rangi Faith, Christchurch Press, 30 July, 1988 If there has ever been a stranger book on cricket, I've yet to see it. It reads not unlike the earliest Dadaist offerings. Perhaps it's about dislocation in society - perhaps it isn't. Maybe it's about a suburban man becoming unsettled in real life and entering the surreal world of the imagination - and maybe it isn't. If you can find a copy you will have something in your collection that will be unique'.-John Symons, Journal of the Cricket Society, vol 26, No3, London Autumn, 2012

Based on Dr O'Leary's PhD thesis 'Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand: 1945-1970' this books explores and exposes the sexist mores of the NZ literary establishment, both publishers and writers, from the end of World War 2 up to the feminists movements of the late 1960s and 1970s.Responses to Michael O'Leary's Wednesday's WomenMichael O'Leary's book makes a unique contribution to knowledge about women writers in New Zealand during the 1940-1970 period, providing insights into the constraints which inhibited their equal representation in the publishing industry of the time.Dr Alison LaurieDr O'Leary's extensive background as a reader, author, publisher, bookseller, and social justice advocate with unique access to unpublished material and literary figures of the time equipped him wonderfully to write this thesis and book.Prue Hyman

"The history of small, private presses in this country is also (largely) the history of our literature." (Michael Gifkins' 1990 'Bookmarks', New Zealand Listener). This quote graphically states the case for the important place small press publishing has in the literary culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. Expanding this further, it is true to say that without the existence of such presses many of our writers, both well-known and obscure, may never have had the opportunity of being published authors, especially at the fledgling time of their career. This book, will endeavour to prove that our literature would be the poorer if such publishers didn't exist, that we may have little literary industry or culture without them.

During the writing of his autobiography, Die Bibel (published in 2016 by Steele/Roberts), Michael O'Leary began a parallel fictional autobiography which he conceived as an 'apocrypha' of additional aspects to his intellectual & emotional life, combining myriad intertwingings of previous works to form a synthesis, a kind of Rainbows End of the Mind, as its characters & events ride a rollercoaster of the psyche, a tipi haere helter-skelter on what might be called the Stratosfear or WindstarZ encompassing a spiritual weltanschauung of history & life. It reads not unlike the earliest Dadaist writings & therefore has the sub-title: a Surrealist Novel. Perhaps it's about dislocation in society: perhaps it isn't. Maybe it's about a suburban man becoming unsettled in real life & entering the 'other' world of the imagination: maybe it isn't. Apocrypha Scripta is about identity & belonging. It looks at the Sixties generation of 'peace & love' & anti-materialism which morphed & degenerated into the 'I, me, mine' of the reforms (a much abused and maligned word) of the mid-eighties & nineties which created the 21st Century Schizoid Person, fuelled by technology & greed, love & dreams, war & peace, culminating in the 'stop the world, I wanna get off' motif, as the earth cries from Cloud 9: wiith 2020 Vision & Reality of Covid-19 & the 'Existential Crisis' of realising that we need to not want so much, as well as finally understanding that the word 'Existential' might really have a meaning. Amen. "O'Leary's wonderful novel spans the global, local, and personal. Intensely beautiful and deeply dark material is consistently tempered with superior mad-cap word-play (in various languages, te reo Maori, German, Irish, Samoan etc), because O'Leary is a poet and a trickster. The writing is constantly deft and energetic, pulling the reader on and on through places, people, and extraordinary scenarios. O'Leary uses many vehicles literally and figuratively; among which are poetry, art, music, dreams, and trains. He keeps this ride careening along the tracks. Time is fluid; we can segue from the Scottish clearances to Covid seamlessly in one sentence. It is an enormously satisfying and mind-blowing novel and requires total commitment from the reader. A culmination of a life's work so far from a fine mind with a five-dimensional view of life." Unity Books, WellingtonNote: This is a parallel fictional biography to the autobiography Die Bibel (Steel Roberts 2016).

"After doing my research, soliciting and collecting all the articles, I started to think of a way to put together a book on the Earl. I had several ideas: one was doing a kind of 'rock star' presentation of the Earl as the best way to bring out his unique personality and qualities as an artist, writer, performer and bookshop proprietor as well as highlighting the wide range of interests throughout his life. Secondly, there was a desire to put together a type of 'literary companion' to ESAW. Many of the pieces chosen on his novels for instance will help to treat the work more seriously and provide scholars and researchers starting points for further discussion of his work. The final idea was doing a book in celebration of the Earl and his life (on the 25th Anniversary of his publishing company). The 'rock star' A to Z approach also seemed to be the best way to maintain a focus on the texts at hand as well as inclusiveness (a hallmark of Michael's publishing approach). Unfortunately, not every book published by ESAW could be included and in some instances the 'rock' theme behind the book helped shape the selection with a majority of the books and poems discussed here having some cross over between literary culture and pop culture" - Mark Pirie (editor of The Earl is in ... 25 Years of the Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop)Some of those featured in the book include: David Eggleton, Elizabeth Smither, Nigel Brown, Gregory O'Brien, Roger Steele, Iain Sharp, John Quilter and many others from the New Zealand literary and artistic community.This book is destined to become a valuable resource for anyone interested in NZ literature over the past quarter of a century, it is also an entertaining look at the bohemian culture of the time, full of rich anecdotes as well as factual information

Excerpt from Introduction by Iain Sharp: "Irishness, Maoritanga, proudly held working-class values, rock 'n' roll, buses, trains, ferries, Baudelaire - you'll find them all in this book. Moods vary from poem to poem, as you would expect from a lifetime's work. Inevitably, there are moments of sadness and a deep anger at social inequities underlies some of the satire. Yet what strikes me most when I leaf through Michael's collected poems is how often the tone is celebratory. What prompts Michael to write? I think he's driven by a need to pay homage to the people (whether pop stars, pals or partners), places and times he's loved. There's an inextinguishable joyousness at the heart of Michael's work that makes reading him an upbeat and uplifting experience."

Michael O'Leary tells the story of factory worker Patrick Mika Fitzgerald, who after several years of working at the same job and looking after his ailing mother, is freed from these ties by death and redundancy. He embarks on an existential train journey in pursuit of a woman he has dreamed of meeting. When reality and dreams colide his world is turned into a previously unknown state of moral real dilema.Responses to Michael O'Leary's novel Unlevel Crossings'Unlevel Crossings is a Joycean language experience and partly it's a literary and political satire, but I think it's also a down-to-earth book about recent changes in New Zealand society.'Iain Sharp, Sunday Star Times feature article 16/06/02'A wonderful pageant...''The book is rich with M¿ori poetry, M¿ori vocabulary, and not ostentatious...''The book is totally natural ... and astonishing textured language ...''... a very rewarding book indeed ...''... Michael O'Leary is a very distinctive and very singular writer and person in New Zealand ...''... it's a lovely magic exploration on all sorts of levels ...'David Hill, reviewer, Radio New Zealand 31/07/02'Michael O'Leary ... has a poet's love of the sounds of words ...'Gavin McLean, reviewer, Otago Daily Times 17/08/02'This gets my vote as the most original New Zealand novel of the year.'Iain Sharp, Reviewer, Sunday Star Times 18/08/02'O'Leary can pull out the most heartfelt prose, particularly when describing the natural beauty of this land.'Michael Larson, reviewer, New Zealand Herald 20/08/02'It is a splendidly droll novel, memorably comic in its unlevel absurdities, its crossover jesting.'David Eggleton, in JAAM 19, 2003.

Every year the Administration and the Congress battle stubbornly and often bitterly over appropriations for foreign aid

Every year the Administration and the Congress battle stubbornly and often bitterly over appropriations for foreign aid

In this treasure trove of tales, storyteller Michael O' Leary has collected stories from the Hampshire Downs (which are up), the New Forest (which is old), the copses and coppices, fields and farms, villages, towns and cities of Hampshire.

The stories in this haunting collection are as ancient and modern, powerful and fantastical, ambiguous and ambivalent as the ghosts they feature. Here you will find tales of headless horses riding moonbeams, an entrance to another world on Marrowbones Hill, drowned sailors and ghost ships, and a girl riding pillion on a motorbike driven by her dead boyfriend - all told in the distinct voice of noted storyteller Michael O'Leary who, for years, has wandered the highways and byways of Hampshire, immersed in the layers of ghost stories that have accumulated in this ancient county. Richly illustrated with original drawings, these tales are perfect for reading under the covers on dark, stormy nights.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight folk tales

With screaming demons in Wealdon copses and dragons lurking in bottomless ponds, the folk tales of Sussex truly represent the diversity of the area.

Focuses on an official Army Air Force report commissioned by the Eighth Air Force's VIII Fighter Command in May 1944. It chronicled the experiences of 24 pilots in service escorting B-17s and B-24s on daylight raids deep into Germany. Scale drawings and archival photographs are included.