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Cargando... A Long Stone's Throwpor Alphie McCourt
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro.  Twink | Jan 19, 2009 |  sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
This memoir of the youngest McCourt begins between the borders of Canada and the United States. Because of a technical hitch in immigration law, Alphie, in town to play a rugby match with his mates, finds himself shanghaied in no man's land. This was not the first, or the last, time Alphie will be on unsteady ground. Alphie McCourt was born in Limerick, Ireland, where his father's departure left misery behind for the family. His loneliness only grew deeper and wider as each of his older brothers (Frank, Malachy and Michael) left for America; so in the year 1959, Alphie followed them. Alphie's adolescence in New York was marked by aimlessness, and too much drink. Briefly returning to Ireland and study law, he returned to America only three years later, where this time he settled in California, discovering marijuana and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Returning to his immigrant roots in New York City, Alphie reencounters the beautiful Upper East Side Lynn, and marries her in 1975, in a raucous ceremony attended by both priest and rabbi. Success followed by hardship in business ventures color several of the following years. Then, one night, on Route 80 in New Jersey, drunk, full of despair and driving through the snow, Alphie has an epiphany. Today Alphie rises in the morning, at time when he used to go to bed. With a New York City dawn still lingering, he monitors the Empire State Building, in all its moods and colors, and knows he has finally landed on firm ground. He is home. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)304.8Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Factors affecting social behavior Movement of peopleClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (2.71)
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Both older brothers have written memoirs detailing their impoverished upbringing in Limerick, Ireland, their emigration to the United States and the success they both found.
I listened to this in audio format. It was read by the author. It opens with-
"I often don't talk much. There is a rhythm to talk, a definite beat, sometimes my mind wanders and I lose the cadence of the conversation."
During the first disc I found McCourt's manner and rhythm of speaking to be slow and dull with little inflection. However, McCourt's Irish lilt is pleasant and I was soon caught up in his tale. He often breaks into song as well.
He begins telling his story when he is in his twenties and living in New York. The tale heads back to Ireland for childhood memories and then back to the U.S. Much of the childhood was something I had heard before, having read his brothers' memoirs.
I found some of the stories to be so detailed that I wondered if McCourt had kept comprehensive journals or diaries or he was embellishing his memories. Although interesting, I found some of the minutiae to be a bit boring at times.
Alphie McCourt struggled with alcohol through much of his adult life. He worked a variety of jobs, eventually finding success in the restaurant and bar business.