{"product_id":"the-dark-john-mcgahern-9780815638612","title":"The Dark: A Critical Edition","description":"Bringing John McGahern's 1965 masterpiece back into print in the United States after years of inaccessibility, this new sixtieth-anniversary critical edition includes an introduction aimed at first-time readers, explanatory footnotes, McGahern's own glossary, and four scholarly essays aimed at guiding readers through the novel's famously controversial history. While the text was initially banned in Ireland for obscenity, this edition demonstrates that McGahern's novel of adolescence is not obscene, but revelatory, exposing the corruption underlying authority structures in mid-century Ireland--from the family to the church, to the government's willingness to ignore national and communal trauma. \u003ci\u003eThe Dark\u003c\/i\u003e follows a promising young boy's struggles to break free from the economic and social forces trapping him in a lifestyle that is both familiar and suffocating. At the heart of the novel is the boy's complex and stormy relationship with his abusive, widowed father, who is left to raise a family with little outside aid. \u003ci\u003eThe Dark\u003c\/i\u003e is a story of alarming brutality, surprising tenderness, and poetic lyricism; a reflection of Irish society that maintains historical significance as contemporary Ireland continues to build its national identity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John McGahern\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0815638612\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780815638612\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Syracuse University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/15\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 274\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"John McGahern","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46311254458623,"sku":"9780815638612","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_de940c14-6785-4be8-949f-660421c91acc.jpg?v=1730888972","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-dark-john-mcgahern-9780815638612","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}