John Killeen
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Overall Rating
5Reviews
- May 22, 2022
John Maxwell O'Brien 5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Memoir Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2020 Verified Purchase What a marvelous gift I gave to myself when I purchased this book. It chronicles seven formative years in a boy’s life who grew up in the town of Athlone in Ireland during the early 50s. John-John’s coming of age is described with such skill, sensitivity and universal appeal, that the present writer, who grew up on the streets of New York City during the same years, can completely identify with the main character and the ordeals, awakenings and inner turmoil he struggled with during those halcyon days. There’s a cavalcade of interesting characters here, people we all know by other names, each described with just enough detail that we not only know what they look like, but can feel their presence. The disturbed and occasionally violent father, a responsible but distant mother, a nanny who embodies human virtue, the idolized girl next door, all there before us in this literary smorgasbord. This is a slice of life with a pulse and an intelligence. Woven into the fabric are threads of Irish history, politics, religion, bigotry, alcoholism and domestic violence. Along the way we learn a great deal about the town of Athlone - including the etymology of the name - I am putting it on my itinerary, when I next set foot on the auld sod. Young John-John, the main character in this fictionalized memoir, is told at one point, “You’re a biteen [little bit] of a story teller, all right.” John Killeen grew up to be more than that - I’d say an accomplished raconteur. Bravo!
Review by - John Killeen
John Killeen
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I am based near Abbeyleix, Co. Laois and the book is a memoir is about growing up in Athlone in the 1950s.