This was a satire about the Irish life told by narrator Bonaparte O'Coonassa (what a name!). There are LOTS of references to potatoes, poverty, drunkenness, perpetual rainfall and the Gaelic language issue. It's a very grim book but manages to be quite funny because of the narrator's writing style. ...
This is straight hyperbole. If you like that sort of thing, you will love this. It's not the very best thing O'Brien wrote, but it's quite fun. :)