Speckled People, The: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood - Softcover

"A wonderful, subtle, problematic and humane book....about Ireland...about a particular family...about alternatives and complexities anywhere."--Irish Times

"A memoir of childhood that often reads like a craftily composed work of fiction."--Daily Telegraph (London)

"A memoir of warmth and wisdom...tender and profound and, best of all, tells the truth. I loved it."--Patrick McCabe

"Full of several different kinds of passion with a real tragedy at its heart."--Margaret Forster

"A fine reminder that there are many ways of being Irish."--New York Newsday

"The long wait for this most talented novelist to cast his eye over his homeland has been worth it."--GQ

"Unlike most Irish memoirs, this one is devoid of sentimentality. Which doesn't make it any the less heartrending. "--Philadelphia Inquirer

"Evocative, agitating and inspiriting, Speckled People sticks up for diversity and principled dissent...extending the scope of Irish memoir."--Independent

"An astonishing account, both delicate and strong, of great issues of twentieth-century Europe, modern Ireland, and family everywhere."--Nuala O'Faolain

"A masterful piece of work--timely, inventive, provocative and perfectly weighted. Don't be surprised if it becomes a classic."--Colum McCann

The son of a fierce Irish nationalist father and a soft-spoken German mother, both of whom speak the language and dialects of their native lands, recounts the persecution he received at the hands of his peers, his efforts to speak a local form of English, and his struggles to make sense of his family rivalries. Reader's Guide available. Reprint.