Synopses & 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.
Synopsis
Malachy McCourt's adventure begins with his arrival on American shores. "A Monk Swimming" -- the title derived from young Malachy's mishearing of the Hail Mary's "amongst women" -- is a memoir of the young McCourt set loose in New York City in the freewheeling 1960s in search of fame, fortune, and fun. Making his way by hook or by crook as an actor, raconteur, rowdy radio talk show host, and ocassional concrete inspector, Malachy eventually opened New York's first-ever tavern for eligible and often famous singles, attracting an A-list of young actors such as Peter O'Toole, Sean Connery, Grace Kelly, and Richard Harris. Malachy's silver tongue and irresistible charm soon earned him a regular spot on The Jack Parr Show. Fame followed, plus marriage, two children, divorce, then a descent into an alcoholic netherworld, a stint at international gold smuggling -- and, finally, a dramatic reunion with his and Frank's long-estranged father.
A Monk Swimming proves that great storytelling runs in the family. Malachy McCourt has a peerless sense of humor and a way with the English language that will earn him comparison with the best writers of our day. A Monk Swimming will be warmly welcomed by the millions who loved Angela's Ashes, by Irish-Americans, and by all lovers of a good story well told.