Controversial for its gritty portrait of Dublin in the 1980s, Bolger's tale of coming-of-age is an unflinching, textured look at the personal cost of social progress, and those, innocent or not, who are lost during the journey. Young Francis Hanrahan dreams desperately of a life different from that of his country-born, suburban-living parents. On his first day at his first job Francis makes his first real friend. Shay, a would-be older brother, introduces "Hano" to Dublin's appealingly seedy after-hours bars and drug-fueled parties. They are joined by Cait, a troubled teenager who spends her days in a stupor. But the noir thrills of underground Dublin cannot conceal the unemployment, corruption, and violence strangling the city. The Plunkett brothers, masters of "the subtle everyday corruption on which a dynasty was built" will use the friends--with tragic results.  (IRE250, $24.95)