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Showing reviews 6-10 of 44
 Real Life with Compassion October 10, 2007
P. L. Petersen (San Ramon, CA United States)
A Drinking Life by Pete Hamill is a reflection on his drinking past. Without sentimentality Hamill tells a hard story. He portrays a loving mother, and an alcoholic father. He chronicles his impoverished childhood, his tough coming of age, his difficult search for meaning, his newspaper career, and his regrets about the way he treated his first wife and children. As the title implies his memories are tied together by recollections of alcohol, and a drinking culture that both fascinated and repelled him. The bar was a place of refuge where Hamill could be a man. It was a place to celebrate, to commiserate, to identify with others, to escape loneliness. It was the only place he bonded with his father.
But the bar and the alcohol that fueled it had an evil side. It stifled human consciousness; it dulled pain, boredom, and joy. It allowed unconsciousness in the midst of living. During the 1960's at the peak of his newspaper career he realized drink was making his hands shake when he typed, and his mind so soft he couldn't spell easy words. He quit. Drinking memories ended. Hamill's love for the writing life was more important than his love for booze.
His memoir is not a cautionary tale against using alcohol, nor is it a self-serving whine against the way he was brought up. He writes like the reporter he is. Honest sentences, specificity, and recalled emotion inform his text. He presents clear snapshots of his 1940's childhood in Brooklyn. He lets the reader draw conclusions, or judgments. He presents the characters who walked across his mother's kitchen floor--his Irish father, mostly drunk, and his siblings. He gives us his friends. He moves into the 1950's with raw adolescent energy--lots of sex, lots of booze. Drinking so overpowers the narrative, that at times I felt exhausted just by reading of his drinking binges.
Hamill's talent, in this memoir and in other work, is a passionate love for real life. He spreads humanity on a broad canvas without moralizing. He paints violence, gentleness, loneliness, and companionship. Real life is hard to look at. Hamill gives it to the reader like he gives it to himself. Without bitterness, with humility, with forgiveness, and with compassion.
 A colorful life, a well-told tale. October 2, 2007
Charlene S. Rubush (Donalsonville, Georgia)
Oh, the places Hamill will take you in this gritty, unflinchingly honest look at a fascinating interior life. Growing up in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, complete with cockroaches, Pete slowly acquires an understanding of what it means to be an Irish-American.
Around age 8, his father, Billy, walked him to Gallagher's, the corner saloon, where young Pete got his first introduction to the camaraderie of the neighborhood bar. There he witnessed his father's serenading of the crowd, after loosening himself up with booze.
It was an initiation that would influence Pete for many years to come. Throughout the book, Hamill notes the persistent, persuasive messages that our society gives, that drinking is an essential social lubricant.
Be it a wedding, a funeral, the beginning of a job, or ending of one, joining the Navy, going on leave or vacation, on and on, drinking was invited, expected, nearly demanded.
The book provides great insights into the times. Hamill writes, "We lived to the rhythms of the war (WWII). Before the War, During the War, After the War."
Hamill's forays into the world of art are enlightening. While taking a drawing class, he becomes enamored of a nude model, and they become involved. His loves, travels, thoughts on religion and family kept me entranced, as well as his inevitable slide into an alcohol-induced moral deterioration.
The surprising aspect here, was Hamill's moment of clarity, when he realized he had a choice, that he could disrupt the cycle of the "Irish-curse". We cheer for him as he strives to make a sober life for himself. An interesting life, told by a great writer.
to drink was to be a man..that what was expected of you.. April 20, 2007
Kerry O. Burns
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
growing up in an Irish Catholic family I remember for my 18th Birthday my father brought home a cocktail for me from the local bar. To drink was to be expected of you. Pete Hamill has written a poignant, funny, sobering look at his life and his journey with alcohol. When he finally realized how much his life was defined by booze, he just quit. This is a courage book, beautifully written full of Irish vigor and spit.
"One thing was certain: in the Neighborhood,the bad guys never went to the Library." January 27, 2007
J. Guild (Toronto,Canada)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
What a sroryteller and what a story to tell.I can't believe it took me so long to "find" this wonderful writer.I had never read anything by him or even heard of him.I do recall, seeing the name on books in the bookstore;but since I tend to read mostly non-fiction,I guess I've just been passing him by. This book has been on my bookshelf for some time,so I decided to pick it up and see what it was like;not really expecting much. I hadn't even recognized him as an Irish-American writer. I have read all the books by Frank and Malachy McCourt,Roddy Doyle,Brendan O'Carroll,Brendan Behan and numerous other Irish and Irish-American writers; and enjoy them immensely.
I found this book a real gem for many reasons.The author was born the same year as I was. Even though he grew up in Brooklyn in the 40's and 50's and I grew up in a small town of about 5,000 in Nova Scotia ,life was very similar.All the things he talked about were familiar to me. Warships in the harbor,Servicemen everywhere,Rationing and shortages (I never saw a banana till I was 10 years old),Air Raid Wardens,etc. I sympathized when he told of giving his skates for the war effort.I can remember Aluminium drives at the school,where there was an effigy of Hitler hanging from a pole and the kids were to bring aluminium stuff to throw at it. Was my mother ever mad when she found out what happened to some of her pots and pans. Peter brought back the many memories of the comics,Comic Books,Big Little Books and all the heroes .I followed all the same ones too. And then the movie theatres,especially on Saturdays. The one big difference was that there were no bars in my town,The arena and the Pool Room was where the young guys "came of age",,or could get anything they were not supposed to have. My town had an Army base nearby.When soldiers were off duty they had to get beer or wine from the Bootlegger (no Bars ,and Liquor Stores closed at 5 p.m.).There was a big orchard back of my house,and that was where they did their drinking. Since the bootlegger did not deal in returns,the empties were given to us kids and kept us in spending money.I still remember going to the junk dealer with my wagon piled high with bottles ;2 cents for quarts and 1 cent for pints.Man,we thought we were rich! So much for being a kid during the war!
Then Peter takes us along with him as his interests develop,how he wanted to be a catoonist,writer etc.He tells us about all his exploits in finding his way through life and impact that drinking had on him. In the end,he finally quits drinking; but if you expect this book to deal with great problems in drinking,extreme difficulties in quitting etc.,you're going to be disappointed. Quite to the contrary,drinking was a real part of his daily existance and the solution to many of his hard times and also very much part of his good times.
Virtually everything and everyone mentioned will be familiar to anyone who was born in and grew up at the same time.
As with other Irish writers ,their use of language is wonderful. It is filled with expressions and great lines.Here are a few;
"Never marry a woman you can't knock out with one punch."
"an Artist must pay a price in loneliness."
"most people go through their lives without ever doing one whole thing
they really want to do."
"No matter how fine a school you are in,you have to educate yourself."
"You could be there for life. That's what I'm afraid of."
"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you:the good and the bad,the estacy,the remorse and sorrow,the people and the places and how the weather was." (this is one of those kind of books)
Now that I've read this book and ejoyed it so much;I'll be reading more of his books.Just remember;
YOU ARE THE SAME TODAY,
THAT YOU WILL BE FIVE YEARS FROM NOW,
EXCEPT FOR TWO THINGS;
THE PEOPLE YOU MEET,
AND
THE BOOKS YOU READ.
Irish American Bio December 1, 2006
Virginia Allain (Poinciana, FL)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Much of the book focuses on the gritty details of Hamill's poverty stricken childhood in Brooklyn and his coming of age. His Irish-American boyhood in the 40s and 50s gives him mixed goals so he rebels, yet follows in the footsteps of his drunken father, while trying to be the "good boy" for his mother.
Seeking to escape the never-ending drudgery of the factories, he turns to reading and drawing. He muddles about, exploring sex/art/bohemian life/ travel, while drinking gradually saturates his whole life.
He takes full responsibility for his failed marriage. Touches on his relationship with Shirley Maclaine. Mentions names in literary circles. This part of the book skips rather lightly through to his repudiation of drinking.
The meat of the book lies in his earlier years. At times it brings to mind Angela's Ashes. An insightful look into Irish-American city life during WWII and the Korean War era.
There's a sadness to this account of seeking a way out of poverty while trying to define himself and deal with the conflicting expections of others.
Reader's might want to also explore All Souls by Michael Patrick Macdonald and Singing My Him Song by Malachy McCourt.
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