Overview
In this stunning work chronicling the author's exploration of his own past-and the lives of many hundreds of thousands of nameless immigrants who struggled alongside his own ancestors-Peter Quinn paints a brilliant new portrait of the Irish-American men and women whose evolving culture and values continue to play such a central role in all of our identities as Americans. In Quinn's hands, the Irish stereotype of "Paddy" gives way to an image of "Jimmy"-an archetypal Irish-American. From Irish immigration to modern politics, Quinn vibrantly weaves together the story of a remarkable people and their immeasurable contribution to American history and culture.About the Author:
Peter Quinn is the author of two novels, Banished Children of Eve and Hour of the Cat. He has worked as a speech writer for two New York governors, and as Corporate Editorial Director for Time Warner. A third generation New Yorker whose grandparents were born in Ireland, he now lives and writes in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
Synopsis
In this stunning work chronicling the author's exploration of his own past--and the lives of many hundreds of thousands of nameless immigrants who struggled alongside his own ancestors--Peter Quinn paints a brilliant new portrait of the Irish-American men and women whose evolving culture and values continue to play such a central role in all of our identities as Americans. In Quinn's hands, the Irish sterotype of "Paddy" gives way to an image of "Jimmy"--an archetypal Irish-American (a composite of Jimmy Cagney and Jimmy Walker) who comes to life as a fast-talking, tough-yet-refined urban American redefining American politics, street culture, religion, and imagination. From their immigration into America to the politics of the modern day, Quinn's vibrant prose weaves together the story of a people that has made an immeasurable contribution to American history and culture.
The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley
Like African Americans, Irish Americans have made contributions of incalculable dimensions to American society and culture. They changed and enriched the language, gave us our greatest playwright (Eugene O'Neill), some of our finest writers (Flannery O'Connor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alice McDermott, William Kennedy) and our greatest movie director, John Ford, one of the "master interpreters of the [American] dream." Now they have given us, in this fine book, a way to help us understand them, and thus ourselves.
Editorials
Jonathan Yardley
Like African Americans, Irish Americans have made contributions of incalculable dimensions to American society and culture. They changed and enriched the language, gave us our greatest playwright (Eugene O'Neill), some of our finest writers (Flannery O'Connor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alice McDermott, William Kennedy) and our greatest movie director, John Ford, one of the "master interpreters of the [American] dream." Now they have given us, in this fine book, a way to help us understand them, and thus ourselves.— The Washington Post