After I had finished reading this (excellent) novel, I thought to myself "what makes a a memoir special"? Some of the answers I came up with are - great prose, interesting people and identification with events. For me, Dan hit all of these with this novel of growing up Irish on Long Island (though the story really coould be about any working class family from any one of inumerable American towns). The fact that it was Long Island, where I also grew up just made it easier to identify with the people and places that Dan describes.

If you would like to read an entertaining novel of growing up in the 60's and 70's, I can recommend this one without any hesitation. ( )

One of the best memoirs U have EVER read. I literally couldn't put it down. Brilliant, brilliant writing. ( )