Renowned Irish Culture vulture Mike Farragher turns a critical eye on himself in the pages of This is Your Brain on Shamrocks and provides a funny, sweet, and certainly irreverent take on life, spirituality, parenting, music, and heritage. Turn the pages and take a whiplash ride through the Irish American psyche!

Growing up above his parents' Chinese family restaurant in Sexsmith, Alberta, Warren Chen has always dreamed of being a football star. At 90 pounds and five feet tall, he's not exactly built like a linebacker, but even short kids from tiny towns have big dreams. At first the coach is reluctant to even let him try out, but soon he sees Warren's strengths -- he is small, slippery, and no one can catch him. Warren is named the team's new running back. In their first game of the season, the Sexsmith Shamrocks face their biggest rivals, Grande Prairie. In a breathtaking dash along the sideline, Warren reaches the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown -- almost. But Warren celebrates anyway, and the referee buys it. Sexsmith's losing streak is broken, and Warren has proven himself worthy to be on the team, a genuine football star! But he knows it's not quite the truth, and sooner or later, someone will find out. Warren has to decide whether to come clean and cost his school the victory, or continue living the smalltown football dream.

It’s the 80s. It’s New York City. And life in the Big Apple is one mean and dangerous place. Crime is at an all time high. And out here there’s a man that would like to think of himself as the biggest and baddest dude to ever grace these streets. One Michael "Madboy" Connelly. A real brawler, a real womanizer, a real player, and a real prick. Just an all around bad boy. But he’s got his story, that of a newly released man that's planning for revenge, against those he believes had set him up and had him sent to the slammer. But that’s just one man’s story in a bigger story. There’s also a man in the city that’s been all over the TV, that everyone’s calling "The Big White Head." A mysterious man with a lot of power, that plans to start anarchy. Start what he’s proclaiming as "The Age of Rage," leading to all the gangs on the streets to rise up and try to wipe this city straight off the map. Between Michael "Madboy" Connelly, The Big White Head, and The Age of Rage, it’s gonna be a hot time in the city, tonight.