The Devil''s Diary is Patrick McGinley''s greatest tribute to his master Flann O''Brien, in this dark humoured portrayal of a harrowing Irish landscape in which lunacy reigns.

Idealistic love and death, sibling rivalry and obsessive lust are themes familiar to McGinley''s work, focusing here on Arty Brennan, who built factories, a supermarket and a noisy motel, trading a spiritually enriching culture for a "hippiedrome" of second-rate 20th century glitter.