Long Stone's Throw: 0 - Hardcover

"This book is a nomadic adventure worthy of Ulysses. Sensitive, lyrical, funny, stubborn, impetuous, McCourt writes with a steady hand, a joyful heart, and an Irishman's sense of life's absurdities." - "Publishers Weekly" "The talent of writing seems to be genetic. "A Long Stone's Throw" visits another memoir of the McCourt family, the baby of the family, Alphie. Growing up in a rough family during a rough time, Alphie had an eventful life like his brothers. A whirlwind of a life brought him across the Atlantic and seemed to not have him have much rest, as he found himself in Canada, California, before finally finding stability in New York City. Another perspective of the McCourt family, "A Long Stone's Throw" is well worth the read."- "Midwest Book Review" "This book stands utterly and uniquely on its own. Beautifully written, with gentle wit, penetrating honesty and forgiving insight, it is a moving and poetic account of one man's long day's journey into light. I was entranced from first page to last. You will be too."- Peter Quinn, author of "Banished Children of Eve," "Hour of the Cat" and "Looking for Jimmy""Fans of "Angela's Ashes" will be fascinated by this alternate account of the McCourt family history. Alphie McCourt is a gentle, charming, philosophical narrator."- Brooke Allen, literary critic and author of "The Moral Minority""When the history of Ireland is written--the story of the ordinary and the extraordinary combined--the readers will thank the heavens for what the McCourt family have brought us. "A Long Stone's Throw" is humble, humorous and honest. Alphie McCourt moves fluidly through time and geography, to bring us a brand new story, one that is necessary and real, one filled with tenderness and redemption.- Colum McCann, author of "Zoli" and "Dancer""Life can be terrifying--or it can be amusing. Alphie McCourt has captured the rhythm of life as he has lived it, first in Limerick City, then in New Yo

The McCourt family gained fame through the books of brothers Frank and Malachy and in the two popular documentaries that profiled them. In A Long Stone's Throw, the youngest McCourt, Alphie, adds his gifted voice to this literary chorus with a vivid, emotional memoir that starts in his native Limerick. Alone and dispirited after his brothers leave for America, Alphie flees Ireland as soon as he's able. He spends the remainder of his adolescence in New York, aimless and half drunk. A return to Ireland to study law is a dismal failure. Back in America, things aren't much better until he reconnects with, and eventually marries, the beautiful Lynn. Still, things are rough: their daughter Allison is born with difficulties, business success alternates with business failures, he continues to drink. Finally, after an epiphany on Route 80, McCourt learns to navigate, clear-eyed, the happy chaos of New York City, and of life itself.