The Clancys of Queens: A Memoir

Like most memoirs, this one speeds up at the end: "So then after 200 pages on every day of my childhood, I got married and had kids and everything's great. See ya." Too bad, because there's a good deal of wit and spark in this one. Tara lives in three separate worlds: her cop father's boathouse in Broad Channel, a rough part of Queens; her mother's boyfriend's mansion in the Hamptons; and with her feisty, abrasive grandmother in a Queens geriatric haven. She is surrounded by real characters - all the denizens at her father's bar hangout, her girlfriends in school, and her mom's boyfriend, who encourages her to think above her reach and grasp. It's a very lively, well-told saga, and Tara may have had the best childhood ever, as unusual show more as it was. show less

The Clancys of Queens is a delightful memoir full of rich details and that most-necessary of all memoir ingredients, humor. Tara Clancy does not remember her parents ever living together which she thinks i probably a blessing. They divorced when she was two, her father moving to a small, very small 350 square foot converted shed in Broad Channel and her mom eventually living with her grandparents on 251st in Queens. Her mother’s boyfriend, though, was a wealthy man who had an apartment in a high rise on Rockefeller Island and estate next to Colin Powell in the Hampton. Tara navigated her three homes with ease.

The Clancys were hard-living, hard-drinking Irish folk. The Riccobonos were exuberant and bold Italians. Between them, Tara had show more eleven aunts and uncles and grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles and cousins that enriched her life.

Her grandmother Riccobono was a pistol, a tough-talking, take no prisoners kind of woman. Her grandfather Riccobono was a kindly man who thought outside the box, taking her with him to work and stopping on the way to fill the trunk of his car with tennis balls, escapees from a poorly designed court.

Her father was a cop, of course. And she was his pint-sized wing-woman at the local bar. Her mother had various jobs, including one that introduced her to Mark, the wealthy investment guru who was a kind and powerful influence on Tara though never presuming to be a second father.

I loved this book. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and most parents who read this will hug their kids and think, “Thank god you’re not like Tara Clancy.” Not that Tara was a bad kid, she was just irrepressible, a bundle of neverending energy and mischief. She would exhaust Dennis the Menace in an hour. However, she’f full of love and kindness, so it’s all okay.

The Clancys of Queens is very naturalistic, as though you’re sitting next to her at the bar while she’s telling you about her family, her friends, her high school, and her college years. There is this absolutely hysterical story when her mom suspecting Tara might be a lesbian, decides to make it easy for her to come out by taking Tara to California to meet her college friend who is a lesbian, a subtle signal that her mom is perfectly happy to have a lesbian daughter. Unfortunately, she missed the part where he friend told her she managed a sex toy shop, a big surprise when the taxi pulls up with fourteen year-old Tara and her mom. Mom was about five years too early, because Tara had not figured that stuff out yet. It’s wonderful to read of a parent who proactively made it easy for her daughter, even if she jumped the gun a bit.

This is a light and easy book, one to read when you need a lift. It’s also the perfect length to read while bread dough is rising twice and resting once, finishing up as the bread comes out of the oven. I suppose I should point out that the language is pretty salty because otherwise I would recommend to everyone.

I received an ARC from LibraryThing.

★★★★
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Clancy's memoir of growing up in Queens, shuffling among the houses of her mother, of her father (which amounted to a one-room shed), of her maternal grandparents (a duplex in which other members of her large, extended, Italian-American (on that side--Irish on the other, natch) family lived), and of her mother's long-time boyfriend, who grew up poor and working class but then became rich, to the tune of fancy digs in the city and a second home in the Hamptons. She explores what it was like to grow up in the Burroughs in the 80s, how moving among not only so many houses but two social classes affected her, how she realized she was a lesbian, the power and variety of her friendships, and the relationships with her family. Absolutely show more hilarious with a tender heart beating at its core, and Clancy reads it to perfection. Recommended in any format, but do yourself a favor and listen on audio, where you'll get the experience of Clancy's timing and accent, which enhance the book wonderfully. show less

When I opened this book, I had no idea who Tara Clancy was or if she had any reason to write a memoir. Lots of people think they have something to say, but often it adds up to a bunch of nothing and I've wasted a couple of hours slogging through. But I have a soft spot for non-fiction about NYC, especially Queens, which I've called home for the last 2 decades (albeit as far away from the author's nabe as one can get and still be in Queens)

After finishing this book, which flew by like her limo rides (I'm not gonna spoil the destination - read it for yourself!!), I'm left with one word to sum up the first 22 yrs of this woman's life. Wow. I don't want to have a drink with her, because she kinda scares me, but I'd sit opposite any bar she show more might find herself behind, and listen to her stories all day long! From a childhood that makes you wonder how she made it out alive to an adolescence that makes it clear she had some serious guardian angels on her side (both in the spiritual and the corporeal senses)

This book is the kind of slice of life story that allows you to vicariously relive a bygone era. The fact that the era is 1980s Queens might be off-putting to some, but I loved it! The writing is so vivid, the characters practically jump off the page.

I loved every bit of this book (even the parts that had me wincing with the knowledge that such shenanigans seldom end well) and the Acknowledgements, following the story, left me in tears, grateful that Clancy had allowed us to revisit some of the friends and family that played such a role in her life.

I began this book with no idea who the hell Tara Clancy was. You can bet I'll be searching out more of her work, just as soon as I finish this review!! show less

There are memoirs written by famous people and then there are those other memoirs which provide nuggets of wisdom and information regarding the every day existence of working class people. How often have I wished for a journal of some everyday person - perhaps of an ancestor, to tell the story of the people from which I come. Too often, it was only the well off who had the time to write such a story or the educated who could actually read and write. So much of everyday history is lost as it just wasn't extraordinary to the people of that time.

Yet here, we have the voice of a contemporary writer who has captured the everyday experience of a precocious, bright, conflicted, deep-thinking youth growing up in middle/working class Queens, New show more York. The imagination of youth carried her and her young friends through childhood games which required no fancy smart phone, expensive equipment or lots of money. Back then, one relied on one's creativity to fend off boredom (which often resulted getting into trouble in one form or fashion). The author has captured the quirky character of the adults responsible for her upbringing as well as the influence of peers in her life and hers in theirs.

In reading this book, I found interesting parallels of the young Tara's story with my own. By middle school, the narratives were very different though no less interesting. I applaud Ms. Clancy for having the guts to share her story and the eloquence to do it well. She has brilliantly captured a place in time and space that is precious and fleeting. Well done!

I am grateful to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Crown Publishing Group for having provided a free advance reader's copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. show less

Tara Clancy is one of my favorite storytellers from shows like The Moth, Risk, and Snap Judgment, so I was delighted to receive a free advanced review copy of her memoir through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.
Clancy describes her childhood in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s moving around to live with her cop father in a repurposed boat shed in Broad Channel, a virtual commune of elderly relatives at her Grandparent's house in Brooklyn, and weekends at her mother's wealthy boyfriend's estate in the Hamptons. Young Tara navigates these three different worlds with aplomb and even with the tough challenges of poor kid in the city manages to maintain a sense of humor and adventure. This is an inspired memoir and a joy to show more read.

Favorite Passages:
"By then, age ten, I was already a tried-and-true child chameleon, a real-life little Zelig who knew how to go from being barfly at a Queens local hangout to a summertime Bridgehamptonite to an honorary septuagenarian at the drop of a dime. Despite all that (or maybe because of it), there was one role I didn't always like to play: kid. More specifically, rule-abiding kid." - p. 111-112 show less

Tara Clancy’s memoir, The Clancys of Queens, is an interesting life review of a vivacious and tough personality. Clancy focuses on her early years as the key to assertiveness with people and maintaining a no-retreat attitude toward life. She learned to be assertive by observing family members, acquaintances, and friends in the rough and tumble environment of Queens, New York. Clancy’s headstrong life approach developed through experiences of hardship and fortune. The divorce of her parents played an important role in Clancy’s ability to be self-reliant and flexible. The lifestyle choices she makes along the way are somewhat unpredictable but understandable given the fierce independence of her spirit. She knows full well the show more consequences of questionable decisions and the psychological breakthroughs that cost emotional stress.

The style of writing in the memoir reflects the voices of Queens denizens as I imagine them without experience. The book is a fast read with good insight into the author’s motivations and good descriptions of anecdotes involving unusual real characters. The vernacular seems realistic and unvarnished. One criticism I have is the strange contrast between the action of the many scenes in the memoir and the emotional energy conveyed to the reader. The action is non-stop and frenetic but the emotional energy is moderate, as if the author is recounting her often-told stories from an increasing psychological distance. In other memoirs I have read, catharsis occurs in the pages of description. In The Clancy’s of Queens, I get the impression that the retelling of events in her life has dissipated their relevance to her over the years. I would have enjoyed a work of fiction that captured artfully the spirit of the author and the social and physical environment more than I did this straight forward account. show less