New Releases by John WATERS

What have Dustin the Turkey, the Paddy Paxman Vincent Browne, Michael O''Leary of Ryanair and the infamous fictional heroine Peig got in common? Apart from all having a genius for annoying people and boring them in equal measure, they''re all lined up to feature in the second volume of Feckers who fecked up Ireland, by John Waters, to be published by Constable in the autum of 2014. The first volume - Feckers: 50 People who Fecked up Ireland - became an instant bestseller when it was published in 2010. Hitting the irish psyche at a time of intense fragility, it sought to dig underneath the superficial rage and recrimination of post-boom Ireland to get to some of the real reasons why the country was in such a sorry state. In Feckers I named both the guilty and the excessively gifted, the beloved losers and those who screwed up Ireland''s psychological ecology by winning not wisely too well. In a time of alleged recovery and rejuvenation, Feckers II will continue this theme, tracing a different narrative that runs just beneath the surface of things. It will celebrate some some of the great unsung villains of Irish self-sabotage and indict some of those who have drawn too much attention to themselves by succeeding far beyond their entitlements. It will address some of the key moments in recent Irish cultural history, from that legendary note on the school notice board of Mount Temple Comprehensive, to the fake tweet that changed the direction of the Irish presidency in the dying moments of the election campaign of 2011. Like its predecessor, Feckers II will penetrate beyond the pretences, vulnerabilities and delusions of a nation still trying to extricate itself from the debris of its picaresque past.