The Irish admire James Joyce and Samuel Beckett; FlannO'Brien, however, they adore. Unkile Joyce and Beckett, Flann chose not to emigrate. He stayed in Ireland where he worked as a senior civil servant and wrote a newspaper column to support his mother and her large family. Often regarded as the funniest Irish writer, his suburban Dublin life pales in contrast to the adventures of Joyce and Beckett in European capitals. Yet, the Irish retain a special affection for Flann; they relish his writing and regale each other with anetcodes about him. Flann stayed at home, Flann was Irish. Flann, they understood, spoke for them and to them, to the man on the street, to the plain folk of Ireland and to the man in the know.