{"product_id":"maria-cross","title":"Maria Cross","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first literary phase in the brilliant and protean career of Conor Cruise O'Brien was his work as critic for Dublin literary magazine \u003ci\u003eThe Bell\u003c\/i\u003e, which begat this collection of essays first published in 1952 (under the pseudonym 'Donat O'Donnell', as O'Brien was then a working civil servant). In it, O'Brien set himself to a study of 'the patterns of several exceptionally vivid imaginations which are permeated by Catholicism' - from Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh to Francois Mauriac and Paul Claudel - and to analyse 'what those patterns might share'. The originality and flair of \u003ci\u003eMaria Cross\u003c\/i\u003e won O'Brien many vocal admirers, among them Dag Hammarskjöld, cerebral Secretary-General of the United Nations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A most interesting and at times brilliant book, admirably and wittily written.' \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'One of the most acute and stimulating books of literary criticism to be published for some years.' \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Faber \u0026 Faber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54251546804568,"sku":"9780571323586","price":18.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780571323586_d4a4d800-dc6c-49f1-9afa-1de35cc31f00.jpg?v=1765942238","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/maria-cross","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}