A Monk Swimming : A Memoir

See Larger Image	Written By: Malachy McCourt Average Customer Rating:


Binding: Paperback Format: Bargain Price Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 304 Publication Date: 1999-06-02
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Editorial Reviews: 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.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Better Than This Comment: I wanted to like Malachy McCourt, I met him in Angela's Ashes, and was so glad he'd made his way to the US and a possible fortunate future with food and housing. Malachy McCourt takes all the goodness and prosperity that was before him and drinks it away, just like his father. That isn't reason to give this book a 2 star rating though. The rating is because the book is a shallow account of a shallow man who in writing this book is a name dropping account of his tenuous stardom. The book started of well enough; McCourt can be a very clever writer but it just got so egotistical- how many women he could and did sleep with, how many drinks he could and did drink. how many people he could and did swear at, how many well known people he could and did insult. His writing ability deserved better than this The best of the book is to be read in the last part five- Father to the Man. It is heartbreaking and so well written. Would that the whole book had been so well written... . Customer Rating: Summary: An anti-memoir Comment: This book is a series of tales covering the life and times of Malachy McCourt: wit, actor, writer, bartender, boozer and brawler, errant husband and father. Malachy was born in Brooklyn and raised in Limerick, Ireland, in desparate poverty. I admit never to have read brother Frank's best selling memoirs, _Angela's Ashes,_ probably a far more serious autobiography than Malachy's book. _A Monk Swimming_ is, by turns, funny and sad, like Malachy's life. Gaining a reputation as a humorist from customers's commenting on his gift of gab during his stint as a bartender, these commendable traits gained Malachy frequent guest spots on the old Jack Parr show. Like his father, Malachy abandons his wife and children, while leading a life steeped in drunkeness, womanizing and, eventually, illegal activity. Malachy, hoping to get his wife and children back, continuously promises, in vain, to reform himself. His lovableness quite apparent, as was his violent nature, Malachy is hardly a model spouse or father. I found myself rooting for Malachy despite his behavior and applaud him for his courage in presenting himself, warts and all. Customer Rating: Summary: Just ok Comment: It was an ok book but not as good as his brother's. Sorry, I liked Angela's Ashes much better. Customer Rating: Summary: Strange Comment: Frank McCourt wasn't really perfect. He drank quite a bit, left his wife and child. And yet, despite all of that and his affairs he is somewhat endearing. He also went on to become a teacher struggling to teach teenagers who had their minds on other things. But, his bother on the other hand. I just don't get him. The way he did foolish things wtihout much thought and was rude to his wife... Perhaps I am just judgemental, but I just don't like a Monk Swimming as much as Angela's Ashes. I know the books are entirely different, by different people, but still. Frank's story is the more interesting of the two. Customer Rating: Summary: Run Frank Run! Comment: Mallachy gives Frank a run for his money or should I say book. I cannot believe the talent in Angela's family. I will not spoil the story for you. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The excesses, the humour, the wit, the heartbreak, the wasted youth, all of it. Kudos McCourt! More Reviews