Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne - Available

Walking with Ghosts

by Gabriel Byrne
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
“A masterpiece . . . poetic, moving, and very funny . . . find it on the shelf alongside other great Irish memoirs including those by Frank McCourt, Nuala O’Faolain and Edna O’Brien.” —Colum McCann
As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working class parents and the eldest of six children, he harbored a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and factory laborer to get by. In his spare time, he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of 1960s Ireland.
In this memoir he revels in the theater and poetry of Dublin’s streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, and recounts his decision to join an amateur theater group—a decision that would change his life forever. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame.
“[Byrne] writes with much more depth than the typical celebrity memoirist, accessing some of Heaney’s earthiness and Joyce’s grasp of how Catholic guilt can shape an artist. . . . a winning dry humor that reads as authentically humble.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A gripping memoir that is anything but typical Hollywood . . . evokes a beautiful sense of nostalgia, melancholy and vulnerability.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“A real writer, a born storyteller.” —The Washington Post
“A dreamy book . . . He writes passionately about his first love and hilariously about his early fame as an actor.” —Irish Times
Expand title description text
Publisher: Grove Atlantic

Kindle Book

  • Release date: April 18, 2023

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780802157140
  • Release date: April 18, 2023

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780802157140
  • File size: 2123 KB
  • Release date: April 18, 2023
Loading
Loading

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Biography & Autobiography Multi-Cultural Performing Arts Nonfiction

Languages

English

“A masterpiece . . . poetic, moving, and very funny . . . find it on the shelf alongside other great Irish memoirs including those by Frank McCourt, Nuala O’Faolain and Edna O’Brien.” —Colum McCann
As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working class parents and the eldest of six children, he harbored a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and factory laborer to get by. In his spare time, he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of 1960s Ireland.
In this memoir he revels in the theater and poetry of Dublin’s streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, and recounts his decision to join an amateur theater group—a decision that would change his life forever. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame.
“[Byrne] writes with much more depth than the typical celebrity memoirist, accessing some of Heaney’s earthiness and Joyce’s grasp of how Catholic guilt can shape an artist. . . . a winning dry humor that reads as authentically humble.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A gripping memoir that is anything but typical Hollywood . . . evokes a beautiful sense of nostalgia, melancholy and vulnerability.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“A real writer, a born storyteller.” —The Washington Post
“A dreamy book . . . He writes passionately about his first love and hilariously about his early fame as an actor.” —Irish Times
Expand title description text
Biography & Autobiography Multi-Cultural Performing Arts Nonfiction
Check out what's being checked out right now Wisconsin's Digital Library is a project of the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC), with funding from Wisconsin Public Libraries and Public Library Systems. Additional support is provided by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services