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As devotees of the Winged Elephant know, Peter Quinn read from THE MAN WHO NEVER RETURNED last Thursday night at NYU's Glucksman Ireland House. We were lucky enough to have some bloggers report back from the scene.

Here's some of the post from From the Balcony, A Publisher's Blog...

In a fulsome introduction, the representative of Ireland House noted that Peter Quinn's last opus, Looking for Jimmy, about Irish America, was a huge hit with students of NYU. "The one copy is always in demand and we are endlessly copying chapters for students," she said. Opening his reading, Peter Quinn spluttered in disgust: "Just one copy. And you're breaking the law by photocopying it. My attorney is present and I saw him take notes at that." He was only kidding, I think. Here he is signing copies. Fintan Dunne, the detective Peter created, rides again in the new novel. Read it.

Quinn, never at a loss for words, talked colorfully and candidly about his work, his writing process, and the judge’s disappearance, more than he actually read. Quinn suggested, perhaps seriously, that readings such as his were archaic. They certainly do provide a vehicle for engaging with an auteur and his work, and the evening provided that in spades.

‘The Man Who Never Returned” took shape, Quinn said, during a conversation he had a few years back with Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of public information for the NYPD and a fellow Manhattan College alum. Quinn added later that his writing was driven by character, not plot, and his characters emerge from conversations he has and those he readily imagines. This process emerges for him, in part, because, he said, “you are always writing about yourself,” even in historical novels, which, he suggested, draw on the author’s experience and personal history. He is famously in love with the historical research his books require, but said to be averse to the writing part. Novel writing is not only autobiographical, he wryly noted, “but psychotic.”

Gerard Donovan, author of Julius Winsome and Sunless, will read from Young Irelanders, a new collection of short stories, on Thursday, September 18, 7pm, at the Glucksman Ireland House in New York. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear one of the very best writers around, as he looks back on his native country of Ireland in a new book of short fiction. Free admission for Members of Glucksman Ireland House and for all students/faculty with a valid NYU I.D. card. For all others: $10 donation at the door. In order to ensure a seat, please RSVP to 212-998-3950 (option 3) or email [email protected].