The Giant, O'Brien is based on the true story of the 18th Century Irish
giant, Charles O'Brien, who was exhibited in London and eventually
dissected by the surgeon Charles Hunter. O'Brien's bones hang to this day
in the Hunterian Museum in Lincoln's Inn Field, despite O'Brien's best
endeavours to avoid such a fate. Charles O'Brien, bard and giant. The
cynical are moved by his flights of romance; the craven stirred by his
tales of epic deeds. But what of his own story as he is led from Ireland to
seek his fortune beyond the seas in England? The Surprising Irish Giant may
be the sensation of the season but only his compatriots seem to attend to
his mythic powers of invention. A motley court surrounds him: slow witted
Jankin; the thrusting Claffey brothers; sharp-tongued Bride Claskey, the
procuress. None so low as Bitch Mary, and none so opportunistic as
impressario Joe Vance, yet London shall make its mark on them all. Just
bodies. But even dead, London shall have them. John Hunter, celebrated
surgeon and anatomist, buys dead men from the gallows and babies' corpses
by the inch. Where is a man to hide his bones when he is yet alive? The
Giant, O' Brien is an unforgettable novel; lyr