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616 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
… while the insistence of journalists on asking him questions about his Irish roots threatened to ignite Ali’s anger, he defused a possible row with a graceful dismissal: ‘You can never tell. There was a lot of sneakin’ around in them days.’ There was no better way to shut down a controversy in Ireland than by hinting that, if you really wanted to talk about it, you would have to talk about sex. (l. 3585)I don’t want to give the idea, however, that this book is a blarney-laced sentiment memoir. A lot of it is very serious, but there are no abrupt shifts of mood. It just reflects the fact that Ireland, like most other places, is a story of tragedy laced with comedy -- or perhaps the other way around.
... in the very early 1970s, a new phrase came into our language: we’re into Europe. ‘How’re things?’ you’d ask, and the reply would be ‘Ah sure, we’re into Europe.’ Or ‘Isn’t it a grand day?’ someone would say, and you’d answer, ‘Oh, it is, sure we’re into Europe.’ (l. 3610)or
When my mother-in-law was happy, she used a phrase she had learned in her childhood in rural Ireland in the 1930s. If you served her a nice dinner, for example, and asked her how everything was she would sigh contentedly and say ‘Ah sure, it’s America at home.’ (l. 7289)The preceding are only a few of the many matters explored with clarity and a sense of what is entertaining and memorable. The twist and turns of ‘The Troubles’ are clearly explained as they ricochet between tragedy, horror, and low comedy, with an eye for the telling details. Some examples: the fight between the IRA and the family of a dead hunger striker over the manner the corpse will be buried, and a struggle in the mid-1990s over who would light the Belfast city Christmas tree -- President Clinton or the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.