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Memoir

Cillian Murphy: 'One of the greatest Irish writers’
By John McGahern
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Brief Description
With a new foreword by Yiyun Li, this beloved memoir of an Irish childhood by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of classics like Amongst Women is a 'healing book' (Sebastian Barry) 'McGahern is about as close as we get to Proust.' Guardian I am sure it is... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2999
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Releases 12th January 2027 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Memoir" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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With a new foreword by Yiyun Li, this beloved memoir of an Irish childhood by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of classics like Amongst Women is a 'healing book' (Sebastian Barry)

With a new foreword by Yiyun Li, this beloved memoir of an Irish childhood by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of classics like Amongst Women is a 'healing book' (Sebastian Barry)

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

With a new foreword by Yiyun Li, this beloved memoir of an Irish childhood by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of classics like Amongst Women is a 'healing book' (Sebastian Barry)

'McGahern is about as close as we get to Proust.' Guardian

I am sure it is from those days that I take the belief that the best of life is life lived quietly, where nothing happens but our calm journey through the day, where change is imperceptible and the precious life is everything.

Through the sun-dappled mazes of Irish country lanes, a little boy walks with his mother, naming the tangled wildflowers together - a memory that will inspire the rest of his life.

This is the story of John McGahern's childhood: his mother's death, his father's tyrannical violence, his encounters with religion, and how, through his discovery of reading, his dream of becoming a writer began.

'A master.' Kevin Barry

'Timeless.' Sinéad Gleeson

'Extraordinary.' Colin Walsh

'Blew me away.' Colin Barrett

'A great writer.' Sebastian Barry

'Exquisite.' Andrew Michael Hurley

'Elegiac and graceful.' David Mitchell

'A glowing masterpiece.' Hilary Mantel

'The Irish novelist everyone should read.' Colm Tóibín

'The preeminent Irish writer of his generation.' Anne Enright

'I'm grateful for every sentence he left in this world.' Donal Ryan

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571399482

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main - Re-issue

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Yiyun Li

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 368

Collections

Biography & Memoir John McGahern Musicians, Movie Stars & Creative Biographies Non-Fiction Non-Fiction Pre-Orders Pre-order Biographies Pre-order Books Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

John McGahern was born in 1934 and raised on a farm in the West of Ireland. He became a primary school teacher in Dublin but was dismissed when his novel The Dark was banned in 1965 for 'obscene' content. The author of six acclaimed novels and four story collections, McGahern was shortlisted for the 1990 Booker Prize and awarded the Irish PEN Award, the Prix Ecureuil de Littérature Etrangère and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He died in 2006.

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    Introduced by Sinéad Gleeson, John McGahern's Booker Prize-shortlisted Irish 'masterpiece' (Colm Tóibín) is essential reading for admirers of Claire Keegan. As he weakened, Moran became afraid of his daughters. Moran's life is defined by his days of glory as a guerrilla leader in the Irish War of Independence. Now, he is simply an ageing widower, eking out an existence on...
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    With a new foreword by Kevin Barry, McGahern's timeless (Sinéad Gleeson) novel of rural Irish life is perfect for admirers of Claire Keegan. 'I'm grateful for every sentence McGahern left in this world.' Donal Ryan When the bells rang out for Mass, the strokes trembling on the water, they had the entire world to themselves. Joe Ruttledge has returned to...
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    With a new foreword by Colin Walsh, this is one of the most volatile, vital, and unsafe novels in Irish literature, banned by the censor for obscenity in 1965 - and just as explosive today. He was coming and there was nothing to do but wait and grow hard as stone and lie. Mahoney grows up in fear of his...
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    "My only concern," John McGahern once said, "is that I get the sentence right and describe my world clearly and deeply." The Country Funeral witnesses three brothers, John, Philly, and Fonsie Ryan, as they travel west from Dublin to Gloria Bog—the heart of the territory where so many of McGahern's stories take place—to attend the funeral of their uncle. Depicting...
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  • That They May Face the Rising Sun
    That They May Face the Rising Sun, John McGahern's last novel, vividly brings to life a whole world and its people with insight, humour, and deep sympathy. Joe and Kate Ruttledge have come to Ireland from London in search of a different life. In passages of beauty and truth, the drama of a year in their lives and those of...
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