lucid, careful and diplomatic study of poetry and Northern Ireland ... there is much to applaud in McDonald's explication of the theme of 'identity' and the assertions which pepper his own narrative should find critical consent. ... Mercifully Peter McDonald is concerned with the real thing and has the scholarly and intellectual commitment to engage with poetry and its ideological vortex without disappearing through the looking-glass of theory in extremis. Mistaken Identities rightly lives protectively among the poems of those the critic admires while keeping a close eye on the politics of those he finds loitering with intent. This is an important book to read.

lucid, careful and diplomatic study of poetry and Northern Ireland ... there is much to applaud in McDonald's explication of the theme of 'identity' and the assertions which pepper his own narrative should find critical consent. ... Mercifully Peter McDonald is concerned with the real thing and has the scholarly and intellectual commitment to engage with poetry and its ideological vortex without disappearing through the looking-glass of theory in extremis. Mistaken Identities rightly lives protectively among the poems of those the critic admires while keeping a close eye on the politics of those he finds loitering with intent. This is an important book to read.

lucid, careful and diplomatic study of poetry and Northern Ireland ... there is much to applaud in McDonald's explication of the theme of 'identity' and the assertions which pepper his own narrative should find critical consent. ... Mercifully Peter McDonald is concerned with the real thing and has the scholarly and intellectual commitment to engage with poetry and its ideological vortex without disappearing through the looking-glass of theory in extremis. Mistaken Identities rightly lives protectively among the poems of those the critic admires while keeping a close eye on the politics of those he finds loitering with intent. This is an important book to read.