Winamp 5.55. In 'A Drinking Life,' Hamill interjects enough touching and comedic passages into the narrative that the reader forgets all the heartache that Pete's father put the Hamill family through. It's only after you are deep into Pete Hamill's own adulthood that the irony hits like a shot of cheap bourbon - Pete has essentially 'abandoned' his family. Hamill's new book, 'A Drinking Life' (Little, Brown), is the tale of a Brooklyn boy from a hardscrabble Irish family who did pretty well for himself. That cost is past - he gave.
Pete Hamill A Drinking Life Summary Video
Overview
A Drinking Life By Pete Hamill
This bestselling memoir from a seasoned New York City reporter is 'a vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction' (New York Times).
As a child during the Depression and World War II, Pete Hamill learned early that drinking was an essential part of being a man, inseparable from the rituals of celebration, mourning, friendship, romance, and religion. Only later did he discover its ability to destroy any writer's most valuable tools: clarity, consciousness, memory.
In A Drinking Life, Hamill explains how alcohol slowly became a part of his life, and how he ultimately left it behind. Along the way, he summons the mood of an America that is gone forever, with the bittersweet fondness of a lifelong New Yorker.
'Magnificent. A Drinking Life is about growing up and growing old, working and trying to work, within the culture of drink.' —Boston Globe
As a child during the Depression and World War II, Pete Hamill learned early that drinking was an essential part of being a man, inseparable from the rituals of celebration, mourning, friendship, romance, and religion. Only later did he discover its ability to destroy any writer's most valuable tools: clarity, consciousness, memory.
In A Drinking Life, Hamill explains how alcohol slowly became a part of his life, and how he ultimately left it behind. Along the way, he summons the mood of an America that is gone forever, with the bittersweet fondness of a lifelong New Yorker.
'Magnificent. A Drinking Life is about growing up and growing old, working and trying to work, within the culture of drink.' —Boston Globe