The Irish in Chicago /

This collection will be of interest only to ethnic specialists. Although the articles succeed in illuminating ``some dimensions'' of the experience of the Irish in Chicago, those dimensions include only nationalism, politics, Catholicism, and literature. What of Irish households, social institutions, or labor activities? What relationship does the Chicago experience have to other heavily Irish-populated cities, and to the Irish-American experience as a whole? The authors' claim that Chicago was unique because the Irish there were not confined to Irish ghettos has merit. The best selection (Charles Fanning's piece on Finlay Peter Dunne, James Farrell, and other Irish Chicago authors) is valuable, however, because it explores the literary dimensions of Chicago's Irishness and places it within the context of the larger Irish-American experience. The other authors should have followed his example. Recommended only for libraries with large ethnic studies collections.-L.M. Lees, Old Dominion University