Colm Toibin published his first book in 1985 and, in the three decades since, has been a central voice within popular Irish cultural and intellectual discourse. Toibin is one of the most widely read and critically respected of Irish contemporary novelists, both in Europe and in North America, and his fiction has justly earned him an international reputation and an ever-growing popularity. His use of many literary forms - the newspaper essay, the travel book, the historical study, reviews, broadcasts, best-selling novels, and short stories - all attest to his crucial influence on Irish public discourse and Irish identity. Accessible, informative, and written for a wide audience, A Different Story presents the only complete study of Colm Toibin’s writing life to date, drawing on the newly-opened Colm Toibin literary archive in the National Library, Dublin.