Michael Brendan Dougherty

A powerful and piercing memoir of an Irish-American son's relationship with his absent Irish father, this book tackles themes largely left unthought by our age of liquid modernity: identity, fatherhood, nation. Dougherty explores identity through the lens of his impending fatherhood, reflecting on the Irishness bequeathed to him by his Irish-American mother and his Irish father over the sea, developing a powerful account of nationhood and belonging along the way.

Excellent and highly recommended.… (more)

Here is a rare memoir that isn't self-absorbed. The ringing quote from the author Michael Brendan Dougherty: “The men who calculate and seek out useful lessons for the present will erect their glass cages and other monstrosities across the landscape. But Ireland will surround her with muddy faerie forts. Her divine knight will come again, ‘walking from the summer headlands / To his scarecrow cross in the turnip-ground.’...Romantic Ireland is dead and gone; it yet rises from the grave…

And:
“But the Rising has taught me that when we act, or when we are forced to act on behalf the future, the past can be given back to us as gift.”

It is in the end, a deeply hopeful book and thus an antidote and corrective to much of what we read today.… (more)

As far as memoir type books good, this is a really good one. I liked the way that this book was written in the style of letters. I really appreciated the fact that author, Michael shared his heart and soul with this book. The letters really brought me closer to him. This is exactly the way I want to feel and experience when I am reading a book about someone's life.

My heart ached for Michael. Yet, he had a wonderful mother. She loved him. Her inserting bits of Ireland to him when he was a young boy is sweet. With each letter, I grew closer to Michael. He was honest in his letters. I have been fortunate to never experience my parents going through a divorce. Yet, my nephews have and my heart breaks for them.

Readers who like reading nonfiction or memoirs will find this book heartfelt and real. Mr. Dougherty is so honest that it is refreshing to read that in a book. This book is a recommended read.… (more)