The Projectionist: The Story of Ernest Gébler

By Carlo Gébler

‘Projection (Psychoanalysis). The unconscious process or fact of projecting one’s fears, feelings, desires or fantasies onto other persons, things or situations, in order to avoid recognizing them as one’s own and so as to justify one’s behaviour.’ Ernest Gébler, writer of such international bestsellers as The Plymouth Adventure and Call Me Daddy, which became the film Hoffman, led a turbulent and fascinating life. At the helm of one of Ireland’s best-known literary families, his life was one of staggering complexity, elusiveness and immense talent that spanned a tumultuous century. In a book that is both biography and memoir, Carlo Gébler, Ernest’s estranged son, tells the enthralling story of his father’s life, covering his strange and alienated childhood, his disastrous family relationships, his marriage to writer Edna O’Brien, his staunch socialism and uncompromising disciplinary attitude, and his final heartbreaking struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Had the subject been given a choice, he would never have allowed the writer to tell his story. In The Projectionist, Carlo Gébler draws on a rich archive of previously undiscovered autobiographical notes, as well as his own personal memories. He explores and interprets his Ernest's life in the hope of understanding a father he barely knew, a life he didn’t share, and a man who was both fascinating and fearful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Island Books
• Release date: Sep 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781848404588

Carlo Gébler

Gébler was born in Dublin, the elder son of the Irish writers Ernest Gébler and Edna O'Brien. He is a novelist, biographer, playwright and teacher, frequently working with prisoners in Northern Irish jails. His novel The Dead Eight, based on events that took place in rural Tipperary in 1940, was described by Julian Evans as having a 'Swiftian understanding of the world's secret machinations'. His other novels include How to Murder a Man (1998) and A Good Day For A Dog. Driving through Cuba: An East-West Journey was published in 1988, and his other non fiction books include The Glass Curtain, about the sectarian divisions of Belfast, and Father and I: a Memoir, a book about his difficult relationship with his distant father.