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A Monk Swimming
A Monk Swimming
Author: Malachy McCourt
The brother of the celebrated Frank McCourt (author of ANGELA'S ASHES) recounts the story of his life from his arrival in New York to his present career as actor and storyteller.
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ISBN-13: 9780786863983
ISBN-10: 0786863986
Publication Date: 1998
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 27

3.3 stars, based on 27 ratings
Publisher: Hyperion
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed A Monk Swimming on + 28 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is the memoirs of the larger than life, hard-drinking Malachy McCourt. Born in America, rasied in Ireland and then back to New York as an teen. He made a name for himself in New York city as the first celebrity bartender. He was a social mixer, a writer, an actor of stage and screen. His gift for blarney made him a regular on the Tonight Show.

This book is darkly funny. But he does tell his story with passion, wit, irreverence and charm. This was a fun read.
reviewed A Monk Swimming on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Slapped with a libel suit after an appearance on a talk show, Malachy McCourt crows, "If they could only see me now in the slums of Limerick, a big shot, sued for a million. Bejesus, isn't America a great and wonderful country?" His older brother Frank's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela's Ashes, took its somber tone from the bleak atmosphere of those slums, while Malachy's boisterous recollections are fueled by his zestful appreciation for the opportunities and oddities of his native land. He and Frank were born in Brooklyn, moved with their parents to Ireland as children, then returned to the States as adults. This book covers the decade 1952-63, when Malachy roistered across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, but spent most of his time in New York City. There his ready wit and quick tongue won him an acting job with the Irish Players, a semiregular stint on the Tonight show hosted by Jack Paar, and friendships with some well-heeled, well-born types who shared his fondness for saloon life and bankrolled him in an East Side saloon that may have been the first singles bar. He chronicles those events--and many others--with back-slapping bonhomie. Although McCourt acknowledges the personal demons that pursued him from his poverty-stricken childhood and destroyed his first marriage, this is on the whole an exuberant autobiography that pays tribute to the joys of a freewheeling life.
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reviewed A Monk Swimming on + 185 more book reviews
Interesting story - funny and tragic at the same time. I wish there was a p.s. to it to say what happened to everyone...his Irish brogue is great!
jdauntless avatar reviewed A Monk Swimming on + 112 more book reviews
Frank McCourt's (Angela's Ashes) brother tells his own story of growing up and coming to America.


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