Murray (drama and theater history, U. College Dublin) says Irish playwright O'Casey (1880-1964) was primarily a writer, and shows how his manual labor between the ages of 20 and 40 allowed him to read, write, and develop into the scribe he later became for trade-union and Irish nationalist movements and organizations. He follows his life and career through its stages to the plays he wrote for the Abbey Theater and the heritage of his work in Ireland today. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)