STATE OF THE ART, Short Stories by the New Irish Writers, edited by David Marcus (Sceptre, $122).
THE staples of an Irish writer's literary diet - famine, fighting, soil, sin and sex - have been replaced by an altogether different menu of cities, bombings, discos and safe sex.
Irish writers have been acclaimed worldwide for their short stories since early this century, but State of the Art offers readers a taste of Ireland over the past 25 years, as seen by a new generation of writers.
The book is devoted to the stories of those whose work did not begin to appear until the late 1960s and so much talent has grown from Irish soil that only those who had, by early 1991, published at least one collection of short stories were included by editor David Marcus.
The authors of stories in this richly varied collection draw on the fundamental changes in the pattern of Irish life from the late '60s onwards.
Inspiration comes from the economic shift from agriculture to industry, the migration from the country to the city, the arrival of television and a new era of education opening the hearts and minds of the people, and the effects of women's liberation on the perception of social and sexual issues.