The Unfortunate Fursey
Synopsis of the Valancourt Books edition (2017):
Hailed by critic E. F. Bleiler as a “landmark book in the history of fantasy,” Mervyn Wall's classic The Unfortunate Fursey (1946) is set in 11th century Ireland, where the forces of evil have launched an assault on the monastery of Clonmacnoise. Their task is made easier by the fact that one hapless monk, the simple-minded Brother Fursey, cannot manage to pronounce the necessary words of exorcism. When the other monks discover this, the unfortunate Fursey is expelled and sets forth on the first stage of his travels, accompanied by a fantastic procession of cacodemons, hippogriffs, imps, furies, and other dreadful creatures, not to mention the elegant gentleman in black who is their commander-in-chief.
This edition includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda.
“Wildly fantastic, intensely satirical, and wickedly comic” - Irish Times
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Mervyn Wall
Mervyn Wall (1908–1997) was an Irish writer who was born in Dublin. He attended Belvedere College and worked as a civil servant. His wife, Frances Feehan, was a music critic.
Merwyn Wall published novels, short stories and plays, and wrote for a short-lived literary magazine, Ireland Today.
Fursey
Fursey consists of two primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
