An Englishman of Irish descent, writer and performer Pete McCarthy brings readers on a hilarious tour of Ireland in "McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in the West of Ireland."

Along the way, McCarthy stops for a pint in every "McCarthy's bar" he, uh, stumbles across. There's no shortage of such pubs, particularly in Cork, which is where his mother was born.

A number one best-seller in Ireland and the U.K., McCarthy's Bar explores the Irish (and their stereotypes) humorously, but affectionately.

At the book's center, meanwhile, is the very serious and resonant question of the impact our ethnic background has had on our lives and personalities.

That McCarthy can take this well-worn topic and make it fresh is one of the many pleasures of this book.

(

$24.95 / 320 pages /

Thomas Dunne Books

)