This book is about the man deep within me. He’s the man who lives within everyone of us, but is locked in the dungeon of our heart and we would never want anyone to hear his thoughts. He’s the bad side of me that no one thinks I have. Everyone believes I’m the gentle person who just takes the slap on the face and then turns the other cheek. What people don’t know is that if I’m hurt by someone and lose control, then the beast within me speaks and acts out. He’s the dragon that once ruled my life, but now is in a cage somewhere in my heart. He’s the person I could be if he gets out of his cage and comes forth. He’s the one who speaks in this book. He’s the side of me you’d never want to know.

Léo Trézenik's The Confession of a Madman, originally published in 1890 and here presented in English for the first time in a translation by Brian Stableford, is one of the most substantial contributions to a subgenre of Romantic fiction that details delusional fantasies: accounts of strange experiences that could be interpreted as supernatural hauntings or as symptoms of mental derangement. Trézenik (1855-1902), who played a significant role in the Decadent Movement, was a former medical student, and might himself have wondered whether he might have been in danger of going mad, those associated with the Movement being routinely accused of insanity by hostile critics. In much the same spirit that they accepted and twisted the charge of "decadence," of course, some of them were not entirely displeased by the questioning of their sanity, and were eager to treat such suspicions as evidence of their genius-and the present novel certainly shows ample evidence of this latter property on the part of its author. The protagonist of The Confession of a Madman never mentions drug use, but the epilogue relating the "factual backcloth" to his delusions is careful to do so, in order to permit the interpretation that the fashionable opiate of the day-morphine-might have made a considerable contribution to the notional narrator's state of mind.

In this lyric poet book may be of your dreams that you feel about life as we see it.

Following on from the bestselling success of How to Be Irish, David Slattery has penned Poet, Madman, Scoundrel: 189 Unusual Irish Lives, another witty and insightful book about the Irish, this time looking at the famous, infamous and not-so-famous (but very interesting) characters in Irish history. Taking history on his own terms, but with rigorous research, David brings together a collection of characters from across the centuries, including magicians, soldiers, sailors, scientists, writers, highwaymen, saints, actors, sportspeople and rebels. Every character earns his/her place in this surprising and amusing book that gives a fresh take on classroom Irish history. The result is a humorous and intriguing romp through the centuries.

In the sequel to Pederasty, Julian should be happy. His husband is just as corrupt as he is, and nobody knows about the trail of bodies their relationship left in its wake. But there are a few small problems. Matt is no longer the capricious teenage boy he once was. Now he’s an adult and with that comes maturity. He’s more intelligent, more cunning, far more difficult to control. And now there’s another teenage boy demanding Julian’s attention. Tyler is fourteen and the spitting image of Julian’s first delve into depravity. As much as Julian wants to be good, he can’t help but be bad. He wants the best of both worlds. To keep clever Matthew around to use as he needs, and give the new kid on the block the attention he demands. But Julian has mistaken Matt’s obedience for naivety and is about to learn what happens when he chooses pleasure over the very person keeping his life from falling apart.