Irish & Irish Americans - Biography, Regional Irish History, Irish Literary Biography, Theater Biography - Playwrights
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Overview
It is half an hour before midnight on New Year's Eve, 1959, and snow coats the cramped, gray streets of Dublin. On the rooftop of 44 Seville Place, a ten-year-old boy clings to the steel rod of a television antenna. When his father urges him to turn the antenna toward England, the boy reaches up and pictures from a foreign place beam into their home. Our young hero, Peter, and his family will never be the same again. As the tumultuous 1960s unfold, the Sheridans - Ma and Da, Frankie, the baby, Shea (later to be known to the rest of the world as Academy Award-winning film director Jim Sheridan), Ita and the younger siblings - forge ahead into the unknown. Young Peter experiences all of life's mysteries - sex, The Beatles, drugs, the Troubles erupting just one hundred miles away in Belfast and, above all, the seductive power of the theater. With boisterous humor, compassion, and sharp-edged wit, Peter Sheridan captures the lives of his eccentric, talented, and very loving Dublin family.Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Irish memoirists have made quite a splash in recent years, from the McCourt brothers' bestselling works to Irish Times columnist Nuala O'Faolain's terrific Are You Somebody? and Dennis Smith's moving A Song for Mary. So, one might well ask, have we a need for any more? There is always room for work of the quality of Peter Sheridan's 44: Dublin Made Me. This vibrant coming-of-age tale of life in 1960s Dublin is a worthy addition to the aforementioned roster of remembrances. Frank McCourt himself wrote of 44: Dublin Made Me, "You'd need a bag of adjectives to do justice to Peter Sheridan's superb book."Atlantic Monthly
Mr. Sheridan describes this noisy, devoted, bright and funny clan with great affection and a fine sense of timing...Irish America Magazine
...[A] moving tale of a Dublin childhood...Tobin Harshaw
...[A] series of set pieces....[A]lthough these sketches never deliver the emotional climax they strive for, it's still a good deal of fun never quite getting there.—New York Times Book Review
From The Critics
...[A] loving and honest memoir....Sheridan's story has the freshness of the youth about which he is writing....[The book] has all the sharpness, disarming honesty and acceptance of sadness that seem hallmarks of Irish literature.Library Journal
Forty-four is the number of the house on Seville Place in Dublin where Sheridan, one of the most renowned figures in contemporary Irish theater, grew up in a family of seven plus four lodgers who were taken in to supplement his father's railroad and gambling incomes. His colorful, funny, and moving autobiography begins in 1960 when he was ten and lived in the small world of home, school, the sweet shop, and the train station. Young Peter commiserates with his friend Andy about their lives and pines for Andy's sister as they become old enough to explore their Dublin. These pages evoke the atmosphere of the city and are a beautiful tribute to it. Sheridan captures the tumultuous 1960s--from Elvis to the Beatles, television, movies, sexuality, and loss, as well as the Troubles in Belfast--with witty and poignant dialog at 44 Seville Place. This marvelous autobiography is recommended for both public and academic libraries. Young adult readers may also enjoy its coming-of-age story.--Lisa N. Johnston, Sweet Briar Coll., VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.The Atlantic Monthly
Mr. Sheridan describes this noisy, devoted, bright and funny clan with great affection and a fine sense of timing...Irish America Magazine
...[A] moving tale of a Dublin childhood...Tobin Harshaw
...[A] series of set pieces....[A]lthough these sketches never deliver the emotional climax they strive for, it's still a good deal of fun never quite getting there.— The New York Times Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
A funny, tender, and vividly rendered memoir of the author's boyhood in 1960s Dublin.Book Details
Published
December 1, 1999
Publisher
Thorndike, Me. : Thorndike Press, c1999.
Pages
464
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780786221530