ARTS FEATURE: The barbaric treatment of an Irish genius

I HAVE rarely been struck so forcibly by a film documentary as I was by Paul Duane’s Barbaric Genius when I saw it last year, writes Arts Editor, Marc O'Sullivan.

The film explores the life of John Healy, whose autobiography The Grass Arena is one of the most astonishing books I’ve ever read. A graphic and poetic account of life as a teenage misfit, boxer, wino and jailbird, it propelled its London Irish author to instant fame on its publication by Faber & Faber in 1988.

Healy had by then renounced alcohol in favour of yoga and chess, which he’d learned to play in prison and then mastered on the tournament circuit. He had found redemption, and his future as a writer seemed secure.