A book for anyone who is Irish or who appreciates the finer points of Irish culture.
When the American writer Bill Barich moved to Dublin, he began searching for a traditional pub to serve as his local. Although he had no shortage of choices, he had trouble finding one that measured up to the archetypal ideal portrayed in Ireland's literature and such iconic movies as The Quiet Man, pointing to a distinct shift in the country's values and identity.
As Barich roams from hectic urban pubs to their dwindling rural counterparts he meets an array of extraordinary characters whose lives are bound up in the trade. He blends the history of Guinness into his account, and also explores the impact of the firms that export 'authentic' Irish pubs around the world. A Pint of Plain is a quest to chronicle the state of the Irish pub today, and thereby to examine Irish culture at a time of great change: it will be irresistible to anyone who has been touched by Ireland and cares about its future.
