In Life is a Funny Business Alan Shatter revisits his early life experiences and explores how he was shaped and influenced by them. For the first time he describes the tragedy and comedy in his family history and background, depicted through the lens of an Irish Jewish boy growing up in 1950s and 60s Dublin, and his insights as a member of Ireland’s small Jewish community. His story travels through the Ireland of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and his early years of social and political activism and experiences as a lawyer. It ends shortly after Christmas 1981, just over six months following his first election to Dáil Éireann at the age of thirty. It also touches on some more recent events of social, political and historical significance linked to his past. His surprising and perceptive narrative uniquely depicts an Ireland of decades partially forgotten, profound changes that have taken place, incidents and events he has not previously publicly discussed and how he coped with childhood adversity. Alan’s deeply moving and thoughtful story reveals the real person behind the public figure and what shaped his values, beliefs, character and self-deprecating sense of humour. It is a story of love, laughter, tears and resilience.

From the bestselling and PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author of Netherland, a fascinating, personal, and beautifully crafted family history. Joseph O'Neill's grandfathers--one Turkish, one Irish--were both imprisoned for suspected subversion during the Second World War. The Irish grandfather, a handsome rogue from a family of small farmers, was an active member of the IRA. O'Neill's other grandfather, a debonair hotelier from the tiny and threatened Turkish Christian minority, was interned by the British in Palestine on suspicion of being an Axis spy. With intellect, compassion, and grace, O'Neill sets the stories of these individuals against the history of the last century's most inhuman events.