Death Need Not Be Fatal

April 15, 2017
Celebrated Irish-American wit McCourt riffs on the theme of death, pouring out anecdotes both humorous and somber from a life lived gregariously amidst constant tragedy. As a child in Limerick, he lost two brothers and an infant sister, his mother wailing and his father cursing God. Coming to America he wears a dead man's suit. Finding success as a television personality and New York barman, he drinks with a death wish and imagines turning his car off the highway. He sits on deathwatch for his spirited mother, Angela, whose ashes his older brother Frank would commemorate in his bestselling memoir, and years later he sits again for Frank himself. Now nearing 90, McCourt, backed by McDonald, bookends his laments over his weakening body and musings on hospice care and his own final exhalation with funny one-liners. Veering at times into philosophical inquiry, addiction narrative, celebrity tell-all, and a tender appraisal of brotherly rivalry, McCourt continually returns to themes of acceptance, gratitude, and love. Breezy and lighthearted except when it's not, this is a grand showcase for McCourt's continued vivacity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)