Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive?
A book of Irish journies, both real and imagined. Originally an attempt to sell a car in Ireland, it becomes instead a quest to sit in pubs listening to old men's stories, laughing at and falling in love with mad Irishwomen, singing folksongs, crying in the rain and vomiting in soft green fields. Introduces some new Irish myths and legends, such as Sean the Dublin Bay Prawnof Neutrality. Also includes a classic cultural face-off between WB Yeats and Daniel O'Donnell.
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Reviews
"If you know who Shane MacGowan is, you may well love this bizarre, funny, brash,telling-it-like-it-is book. If you don't, then it will expand your cultural range' SUNDAY TIMES
'An irreverent homage to Ireland... sly and funny.' IRISH POST
'This is an absolute must for anyone who's ever indulged even a moment of romantic yearning for all things Hibernian. Like some latter day Kerouac, Tim Bradford drives around the Emerald Isle in search of captivating wild women, poetry, folk songs and of course, the odd pint or two. He meets Europe's spottiest hitcher and drives along Ireland's worst road; he gives a bluffer's guide to being Irish for those who aren't and provides an essential map of the land showing the distribution of conversational topics including house prices. Moving statues and condom availability. Hilarious.' SCOTSMAN
'An engagingly whimsical tour, in which Bradford seeks to discover what it means to be Irish (and indeed Oirish), where the best Guinness is found, whether Irish music is any good, and sundry related topics. This is always amusing and frequently laugh-out-loud funny: Bradford can see the serious in the inconsequential and vice versa. He comes across as the kind of guy you'd love to have a drink or three withS A book that achieves the difficult feat of being light in tone, funny and human. I await his next with pleasure.' GLASGOW HERALD
'An irreverent and funny book which will have you laughing into your Guinness' WHAT'S ON
'The title is taken from a chance encounter at Camden tube station with a man whose death has been greatly exaggerated and yet fervently expected. Bradford's chance encounter with MacGowan tempts him into making an odyssey of sorts around Ireland. A book like this could so easily slip into good-humored whimsy. Bradford's book is good-humoured, clever and well written. He takes on Ireland on its own terms, never patronises nor indulges his subject matter. He breaks Ireland up into imaginary zones. Dublin is Viking Town, the Midlands, for reasons best known to the author, is Orange County; the south is Maryland after the moving statues at Ballinspittle. The book is interspersed with animations, which make you laugh out loud - like the map of Ireland depicting areas of heavy rainfall - the entire island, of course. It's worth buying for his hilarious and accurate descriptions of Oirish theme pubs alone. Enjoy.' RI-RA 'Determinedly and flatulently funny.' IRISH BOOKSELLER
'A superb and positively hilarious book which adds a liberal helping of cynicism to the portrayal of folk singers in bars, vomiting tourists, and moving statues. As much fun as a night's pub crawl round Dublin. Well, almost.' MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
'With Spike Milligan-ish humour, Bradford investigates the Irish psyche: at times he comes close to adding a new mythology of his own.' TIME OUT
