Fumbling with doors

ANAKANA SCHOFIELD

Paula SpencerBy Roddy Doyle Knopf Canada, 277 pages, $32.95It has often struck me as strange that modern Irish fiction does not have more working-class heroes. When you consider that for most of the last century, half the country was exiled digging holes, building roads, driving buses in New York and nursing in English hospitals, it's remarkable more of them haven't graced the pages of our fiction. Yes, yes, I know, social class and a particular job description cannot eclipse dull writing and lack of a story. The experts would argue me under the bed and over the fence for suggesting such a demand of fiction: What do you think this is, missus, the bleeding equal opportunities commission? Appeasement and much more besides turn up in Roddy Doyle's novel Paula Spencer. The working classes have served him well; so has his CD collection.