Monk Swimming
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.29 (783 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 073664427X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 301 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
2 cassettes / 3 hoursRead by the author, Malachy McCourt"Malachy McCourt here makes his vivid, whimsical, raucous, murderous joy and voice available to the rest of us in tales of riot and glory which build on the story of the McCourts' early life so dazzlingly told in Angela's Ashes by his brother Frank."--Thomas Keneally, author of Shindler's ListIn 1952, Malachy McCourt left a childhood of poverty in Limerick, Ireland, heading for the promise of America. This is the story of what he brought with him, and what he thought he left behind.Larger than life, a world-class drinker, McCourt carved out a place for himself in New York City: in the saloons, as the first celebrity bartender, mixing with socialites, writers, and movie stars, on stage and on television, where the tales he spun made him a Tonight Show regular.He had money and women and, eventually, children of his own; and that's when he found he had not left his memories as far behind as he had thought. He had no choice but to stop and turn and face his past.Darkly funny, shockingly raw, and everywhere making the English language do tricks the British never intended, Malachy McCourt, a true original, tells this story with passion, wit, irreverence, and charm.
(Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear." From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. Read by the author in his thick and hearty brogue, A Monk Swimming expands on the up-from-your-bootstraps tale of the McCourt family, which was so beautifully detailed in his big brother Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-win
CJA said Funny, Yet Superficial. I listened to Malachy McCourt on radio long before I ever read Frank's books, so I looked forward to this book. I also knew that his voice and delivery were everything, so be sure you get this on audio.The stories are very funny, but McCourt ultimately cannot let the reader into his soul enough to show how he, apparently, gave up the drink and straightened out his life. His stories don't always glorify his drunken revelries -- his regret for his alcoholism does come thr. extremely disappointing I could start by saying that I was hoping that "A Monk Swimming" would be a continuation of the always poetic, oftentimes funny, oftentimes sad memoir by Malachy's brother Frank McCourt but I won't because that wouldn't be fair. After all, every work should be judged in and of itself. However, to say I was disappointed by "A Monk Swimming" doesn't even begin to explain my feelings for this book. While I enjoyed the first third of Malachy's account of his life in America. Sherri said Malachy McCourt is no Frank McCourt, nor is he PG Wodehouse.. I began McCourt's book with high hopes, having been an enormous fan of his brother's work, Angela's Ashes. Within a few pages, I had the oddest feeling that I was reading a poor imitation of P.G. Wodehouse. Within a chapter or two, the acknowledgement was made: McCourt is a fan of Wodehouse. The book is so derivative that I'm surprised he didn't have to pay royalties to the Wodehouse estate. The book is tedious, and I soon grew tired of McCourt's name dropping and point