Midlife Irish: Discovering My Family and Myself

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Summary: A unique book
Review: I highly recommend this book. Midlife Irish defies easy characterization. It is not a typical travel book; nor is it a book about midlife crisis. Midlife Irish is about dreams. Frank Gannon has had visions of Ireland since childhood, and in midlife he finally has the chance to chase those dreams to ground in the homeland of his parents. With a mixture of wry wit and touching candor, Gannon takes us along on his journey in search of Ireland, of his parents, and of why his childhood was as it was. In the end, Gannon's journey is a meditation on the mystery of life and place and time, and on the way that place and time shape not one life, but the lives of the generations that follow.

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Summary: surprisingly touching and funny.
Review: I recieved this book as a present. I thought of it as a sort of travel book, but it's something much different. It's a very funny, personal and touching book. It's not a "fact book", and I don't think it pretends to be. But it is very memorable, very funny , and very entertaining. Just a lovely read. At the end I was genuinely moved

Rating:
Summary: surprisingly touching and funny.
Review: I recieved this book as a present. I thought of it as a sort of travel book, but it's something much different. It's a very funny, personal and touching book. It's not a "fact book", and I don't think it pretends to be. But it is very memorable, very funny , and very entertaining. Just a lovely read. At the end I was genuinely moved

Rating:
Summary: hilarious and touching
Review: I was surprised and delighted by this book. My wife, Briget, has Irish folks, so I picked it up. I thought it was going to be a sort of travel book. I was shocked when I started reading it, and I couldn't put it down. It has to be the funniest book I've read in years, but it is, in parts, very touching. All in all, a marvelous book, one anyone would love.

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Summary: A journey through memories
Review: Many of us long to understand who we are, and where we come from. As a nation of immigrants, we struggle to appreciate the sacrifices made by those who made the journey to these shores, to understand what motivated them and what their life was like before they emigrated. I'm Irish, born and raised, but have lived in the U.S. for almost a decade so my perspective on this "journey" undertaken by the author in search of his parents roots is something I can easily relate to. I was initially disappointed with the earlier chapters in the book - they seemed to lack direction, were repetitious, and cried out for editorial direction but by the end of the book, I had realized that these are stylistic mannerisms of the author. The journey is less important than what the author learns along the way. Glimpses into Irish life are realistic, although tinged with sadness in places. Read this book, you won't be disappointed.

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Summary: A delightful read
Review: This book is a pleasure. It was very funny, yet also inforrmative (and very well written). In parts it moved me emotionally. I was sorry when it was over, my highest compliment for a book. It has to be the funniest, and just plain best, book I've read this year.

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Summary: Mildly amusing, wildly inaccurate
Review: This book is mildly amusing but if any book called for a careful editor it's this one. It's got geography, history, culture all astonishlingly wrong. Irish as a Germanic language. Athlone 150 miles from Dublin. 1879 a Famie year.

Rating:
Summary: Funny, Revealing, Enlightening Journey of Discovery
Review: This book, which is not a travel book nor a psychological treatise although it has elements of both, will bring a feeling of recognition and self discovery to many Irish-Americans like myself. Gannon accurately reflects the upbringing in an Irish home where many things are left unsaid and much of family history is shrouded in mystery. His trip to Ireland to learn more about his parents and his forebears is a treat--enlightening, educational and very funny. It is also dead-on in its take on Ireland and the Irish. It is a fascinating trip that will keep the reader laughing and engrossed. Highly recommended.