Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I expected this book to be a self aware reflection on the trouble and pain that alcohol caused in his life with a final decision to quit and the aftereffects of that decision.Instead it is a memoir about the son of an alcoholic who keeps sabotaging himself by quitting promising things, moving around too frequently, and having trouble finding himself. Later on drinking too much becomes a problem. While he mentions drinking throughout the book, it is up to the reader to conclude "You know, he probably wouldn't have ended up in that Mexican jail had he not been drinking so much" but Mr.Hamill himself, even writing his memoir, does not spell this out - or seem to want to own up to it. Its almost like he presents all the evidence as circumstantial without drawing any conclusions even though the conclusion is forgone (its written on the book jacket). Truth be told, when I buy a memoir of a newspaper publisher's battle with the bottle I am expecting to hear more about (1) Newspapers, (2) Publishing, (3) Battles with the bottle. Sounds fair, right? Instead the book is mostly about his childhood with increasingly frequent mentions of drinking starting half way through. He only gets a newspaper job toward the end of the book. In the same amount of pages he devotes to a childhood newspaper route, he goes from an entry level night newspaper job to having his own column to dating Shirley MacClaine. I wish that part of the book had been slowed down for more detail. Overall its an enjoyable read but there really isn't much drama in it. Its a guy growing up, having some knocks, having some fun, getting his career going, drinks too much, ruins his marriage, and then he stops drinking. While in reality the decision to stop drinking was the end result of a lot of thinking done over time, in the book it seems to just pop into his head one night and that was that. Now I do not wish that he had a harder life in order to make a more engaging read, but I wish the book took a harder look at his drinking. We know drinking interfered with his family because he wasn't spending any time with his kids (he was at the bar instead) but he doesn't step back to reflect on this - he just presents the facts, like a newspaper column. By the end I would have even accepted a trite conclusion like "I was no better than my dad". He mentions he quit drinking because he felt he was acting his life and not living it - this memoir seems as if he wrote about the life he acted, and not his life itself.
Rating: 
Summary: The title is a misnomer - but it's damn entertaining
Review: I loved this book. Hamill puts you on the streets of Brooklyn, in an artist's studio - every place he was. I was sorry to see it end. It was fantastic, but . . . if you're buying this book to examine someone's (or your own) battle with alcoholism, you'll be disappointed. He rarely discusses his "problem" and barely correlates alcohol to other difficulties in his life. Knocking down the door of a Mexican whorehouse may seem innocuous to those of us in AA. Other than some instances of frat-boy pranks, his drinking seems rather tame. That aside, pure joy and entertainment. If you want an intensely personal and shakingly accurate account of what it is to be alcoholic read Caroline Knapp's, Drinking: A Love Story.
Rating:
Summary: Love Affair with New York
Review: I must admit that I have always been an admirer of Pete Hamill...I like his intelligence, his honesty, and his unflinching love of New York City. This book integrates all those qualities. Yes, it does evoke New York City nostalgia. I wasn't born in Brooklyn; however, people from that borough seem to have more than their share of love for it - this book gave me a glimpse of what it was like and why native-born Brooklynites have such an affinity for their borough. Other books such as DRINKING: A LOVE STORY by Caroline Knapp deal much more directly with the addiction of alcoholism; however, if you enjoy an honest, straight-forward, "clean" writing style and you are interested in New York City history/memoirs, then you will love this book. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Hamill captured the essence of being Irish Catholic.
Review: It was difficult to put this riveting book down. As a middled aged Irish American who was raised a Roman Catholic, Hamill explained through his eloquent memoir what being Irish in Brooklyn (and for me, Long Island) were all about. He answered many questions that I never even articulated as a youngster or as a man in a way that made sense to my father's generation (WW II), Hamill's generation (Korean War) and my generation (Vietnam). He helped me better understand myself by reading his story. I wish I had read this book 20 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Same columnist/writer, drinking or not.
Review: Lacking in this autobiographical examination of a "life of drinking" is any sense of whether the writer changed or not. It seems he hasn't. He is the same columnist today that he was when he drank. Perhaps the parts about Brooklyn might excite natives, but for outsiders,
Hamill's descriptions of his youth into manhood are tedious and overwrought. While he might capture the flavor of Brooklyn neighborhoods by mentioning street corners and hangouts, he doesn't capture at all the flavor of the times Brooklyn or elsewhere. One item worth noting: to his credit, Mr. Hamill does not preach about his conversion. Dick Sheppard, Jersey City, NJ
Rating: 
Summary: What drinking life?
Review: Mr. Hamill has written a book about the drinking life which doesn't mention drinking. Nowhere does he talk about the experience of drinking, why he liked drinking, or any of the other issues central to a drinker's life. I'm a non-drinking alcoholic, and I find it hard from the evidence provided in this book to conclude that Mr. Hamill ever drank at all. I suppose the answer is probably that Mr. Hamill, in order to remain sober, has repressed all that. Well, more power to him. When you know what alcoholism is like then you want every other non-drinking alcoholic to use whatever means possible to stay sober. However, what we end up with is a highly intellectualized account of Mr. Hamill's drinking life which omits the crucial factors and ends up substituting for them cheap shots at his father.
Rating:
Summary: a completely involving and entertaining read
Review: One of the most entertaining books I have ever read. Pete Hamill is one of those few autoboigraphers who has a truly interesting life and the talent to express it in words. I highly recommend it as well as his other writings. A must for anyone who grew up with Irish immigrants and culture in the neighborhood.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding portrait of growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhoo
Review: Pete Hamill captures the essence of growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhood of the forties and fifties. I grew up in an adjacent neighborhood, park Slope, and through his writing he brings to life the rhythmn of a Brooklyn neighborhood. How the local bar was the center of the socialo and political life of the neighborhood for the Irish catholic man. Pete Hamill writes of an attitude of acceptance by wives, son's and fathers. How your friends..the "gang" was a focus of everyday life. Poverty, struggle, a search for one's place in life. The author captures these times in moving words and paints a picture that ,akes for great reading. An outstanding piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Pete Hamill captures the spirit of 30 plus years in New York. Although I was born in Queens, NY, 1961, I knew (and still know!) folks like those Pete talks about. Pete is first generation American, working class, but he had the guts to pursue his dreams. He paid the price to make it out of "the neighborhood." One of the great newspaper reporters of our time, Pete sees the superhero and character qualities of everyday folks. The people are real, but this book moves like a great novel. I didn't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: If you've ever lived in Brooklyn, BUY THIS BOOK!
Review: Pete Hamill evokes images of a Brooklyn few of us would recognize today. Imagine, upscale Park Slope as a lower-middle class neighborhood. This book is a must-read for anybody who has ever lived in Brooklyn, or its distant, inferior cousin, Manhattan.
Nobody writes a first-person narrative like Pete Hamill. When you finish this book, you realize how much better thing are today...and how much worse, as well.
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