Jaywalking with the Irish

September 13, 2004
In 2000, American-born journalist Monagan and his wife packed up their Connecticut house and their three children and returned to their roots in Cork, Ireland. "Why not muster one great adventure before we were worn down with age or savaged by school tuition bills?" Monagan had long adored Ireland, having studied in Dublin and occasionally revisited. His passion remains at the surface of his memoir, yet the Ireland of the present often bears little resemblance to the one of his memory. Monagan recounts enrolling his children in school; watching his wife struggle to find work; trying to blend in at the local pub; and navigating Ireland's byzantine bureaucracy with a light touch. Monagan's story, though, grows dark as his family finds itself at the mercy of teenage hoodlums, and one son has difficulty adjusting to school. The story floats from incident to incident until midway through, when Monagan decides he wants to start a regional magazine. The various characters occasionally blur together, and Monagan skates through his final two years in Cork too quickly, insufficiently tying up loose ends. The writing, however, is frequently mellifluous, offering a glimpse into some of Eire's still-existent magic and delving into the slippery questions of identity that confront most travelers. (Oct.)

Forecast:
A blurb from Frank McCourt could help this most recent addition to Lonely Planet's travel literature series.

October 15, 2004
In Monagan's first full-length work, the freelance writer and journalist chronicles his move with his wife and three children from the tiny town of Cornwall, CT, to the Irish city of Cork. They quickly discover that living in Ireland is quite different from being a tourist there. Monagan's descriptions of everyday activities in their new life-from enrolling the children in Irish schools to dealing with quirky European appliances, and the considerable tasks of making friends and contending with anti-American prejudice-provide a unique look at Ireland and its citizens. Monagan is clearly enamored of his adopted home-perhaps a bit too much, as he indulges in description (and quotation marks) to the point of excess, especially in the early chapters. Readers who enjoy Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes, and Adam Gopnik will be drawn to the subject matter but may find that the verbosity detracts from the content. For larger public libraries only.-Rita Simmons, Sterling Heights P.L., MI

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