Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Writing fiction about writers who are

really good at writing is always a tricky proposition. Because if the fictional writer's writing

is good enough that it's worth all the drama that you're about to put your characters through,

well, then you have to write something that good. It's a massive

amount of faith to put into your own skills as a writer. This is something our guest today gets into,

and Enright is the author of the new book The Ren, the Ren, about the Fallout that comes from

having a great artist slash awful man in the family.

And she tells NPR Scott Simon that she actually had an easy time getting into the skin of that type of guy because she knows those types of guys.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app

or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can make a long list of men considered geniuses, writers, statesmen, scientists, artists,

who are also abusive husbands, neglectful fathers, and utter boers.

One such man is the famed Irish poet at the heart of a new novel. Phil McDara is

pure fiction, but he comes alive through poetry like, Ren the Ren was a panic of feathered air.

In my opening hands so fierce and light, I did not feel the push of her assent away from me.

The poet abandoned his family on the way to fame.

They still live with the emotional rubble two generations later.

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