Memories of an Irish-American growing up log-shack poor in small-town Ohio "Shanty Irish is a window, cracked and soiled, into a time and a place and a people before the moving pictures became an American obsession, people who had to create their own dreams, invent their own stories, and find escape from hopeless lives in hard liquor or the cold comfort of a promised Hereafter." --from the foreword by John Sayles Jim Tully was an American writer who enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success in the 1920s and ...
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Memories of an Irish-American growing up log-shack poor in small-town Ohio "Shanty Irish is a window, cracked and soiled, into a time and a place and a people before the moving pictures became an American obsession, people who had to create their own dreams, invent their own stories, and find escape from hopeless lives in hard liquor or the cold comfort of a promised Hereafter." --from the foreword by John Sayles Jim Tully was an American writer who enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success in the 1920s and '30s. A former circus laborer, hobo, and professional boxer, his rags-to-riches career may qualify him as the greatest long shot in American literature. Following the death of his mother, Tully was sent from his home in St. Marys, Ohio, to an orphanage in Cincinnati. After his time at the orphanage, the young Tully spent six years as a vagabond, riding the rails and working for a small circus. He left the road and settled in Kent, Ohio, in 1907, working odd jobs while focusing on his new interest--writing. After getting a few pieces published in local papers, Tully returned to the road in 1912, eventually settling for good in Hollywood. He worked for Charlie Chaplin and later became one of the first reporters to cover Hollywood. His honest depictions of film stars and directors earned him the reputation as the most feared man in Hollywood. In addition to the celebrity pieces, Tully wrote numerous books, including Shanty Irish (1928). A hard-edged mixture of hilarious and heartbreaking memories, Tully's autobiographical Shanty Irish digs deep into the soil of his native Ohio to show what life was like in the late nineteenth century for a poor Irish-American family. Within the covers of this acclaimed work, we meet the author's father, also named Jim Tully, "a gorilla built" ditchdigger whose stooped shoulders carry "the inherited burdens of a thousand dead Irish peasants." We meet his mother, Biddy, a "woman of imagination" who "had all the moods of April." We meet his uncle, ruthless John Lawler, who was tried, convicted, and sentenced to fifteen years in the Ohio penitentiary for stealing horses. And we meet his grandfather, Old Hughie Tully, "born with the gift of words"--"capable of turning death into an Irish wake and pouring liquor down the throat of the corpse." Old Hughie, "never without a tale to tell," emerges as the most vividly drawn character in a book packed with unforgettable characters. Tully's most deeply personal book, Shanty Irish had a profound impact on readers and other leading American writers of the 1920s. "Shanty Irish is a chunk of real life," wrote Upton Sinclair. "It made me feel human and humble, which is good for anybody." H. L. Mencken said, " In Shanty Irish, it seems to me, he has gone far beyond any of his work of the past. The book is not only brilliantly realistic; it also has fine poetic quality." Indeed, a book soaked in mud and whiskey, Shanty Irish is at turns brutal, sentimental, ironic, lyrical, humorous, and tragic.
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Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $27.00, very good condition, Sold by Alibris rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2009 by Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel.
Edition:
2009, Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel Books
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $27.00, new condition, Sold by Archer's Used & Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Kent, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Kent State Univ. Press.
Edition:
2009, Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel Books
Publisher:
Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel Books
Published:
2009
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17593437777
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Seller's Description:
New Book. No Dust Jacket. A lost classic back in print. The John Sayles fwd ranks w/ the finest writing ever done on the Irish-American experience. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Ohio literature; ISBN/EAN: 9781606350232. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1258.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $38.01, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Wildside Press.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $42.00, fair condition, Sold by Dunaway Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Saint Louis, MO, UNITED STATES, published by Albert & Charles Boni.
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Seller's Description:
Good in Fair jacket. Second Printing, Cover shows wear, but is covered with a mylar sleeve. cracked hinge at rear of book, slight staining to page edges.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $42.51, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published by Albert & Charles Boni.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $50.97, new condition, Sold by BetterBookDeals rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toronto, ON, CANADA, published 2021 by Wildside Press.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $52.00, very good condition, Sold by Quercus Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chico, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1928 by Albert & Charles Boni.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good (Minus). No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A founder-writer of the "hard-boiled" school, Jim Tully (1886-1947) had the hard life so often described in his fourteen published books. Raised in an orphanage, he was a hobo, professional boxer, and even a tree-surgeon, prior to becoming a Hollywood gossip columnist. This is a Very Good (Minus) copy of the Second Printing of one of his best-known novels, published the same month as the First. Green cloth binding with darker green titling on the front cover and spine; Boni logo on rear cover. Clean text; 292 pages. Both gutters have split; while holding, the book is shaken. The spine has darkened and most of the lettering has rubbed badly. A reading copy; not for the advanced collector.
Add this copy of Shanty Irish to cart. $61.51, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Wildside Press.
