My Father Left Me Ireland - by Michael Brendan Dougherty (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"National Review senior writer Michael Brendan Dougherty delivers a mediation on belonging, fatherhood, and nationalism, through a series of letters to his estranged Irish father. The child of an Irish man and an Irish-American woman who split up soon after he was born, Michael Brendan Dougherty grew up with an acute sense of absence. He loved his mother but longed for his father, who only occasionally returned from Ireland for visits. He was happy enough in America, but desperately wanted the sense of cultural belonging that his Irish half-siblings seemed to enjoy. When his first child was born, Dougherty knew he wanted to give her that kind of solid connection to her heritage. Aware that he was becoming a clichâe--the Irish-American who wants to be more Irish than the Irish--he began to study Gaelic. He buried himself in Irish history and learned old songs to sing to his daughter. Most significantly, he began writing letters to his father about what he remembered, what he missed, and what he longed for, realizing along the way that his longings were shared by many of his generation. These letters would become this book. Many Americans today, of all backgrounds, lack a clear sense of cultural heritage or even a vocabulary for expressing this lack. And as the national conversation about identity becomes increasingly polarized, people tend to avoid talking about their roots altogether. In these deeply felt and fascinating letters, Dougherty offers a new way for all of us to think about who we are, where we came from, and where we're going."--Provided by publisher.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>The perfect gift for parents this Father's Day: a beautiful, gut-wrenching memoir of Irish identity, fatherhood, and what we owe to the past.</b><br> <b> </b><br> <b>"A heartbreaking and redemptive book, written with courage and grace." <br>-J.D. Vance, author of <i>Hillbilly Elegy<br></i></b><br> <b>"...a lovely little book." <br>-Ross Douthat, <i>The New York Times</i></b> <p/>The child of an Irish man and an Irish-American woman who split up before he was born, Michael Brendan Dougherty grew up with an acute sense of absence. He was raised in New Jersey by his hard-working single mother, who gave him a passion for Ireland, the land of her roots and the home of Michael's father. She put him to bed using little phrases in the Irish language, sang traditional songs, and filled their home with a romantic vision of a homeland over the horizon. <p/>Every few years, his father returned from Dublin for a visit, but those encounters were never long enough. Devastated by his father's departures, Michael eventually consoled himself by believing that fatherhood was best understood as a check in the mail. Wearied by the Irish kitsch of the 1990s, he began to reject his mother's Irish nationalism as a romantic myth. <p/>Years later, when Michael found out that he would soon be a father himself, he could no longer afford to be jaded; he would need to tell his daughter who she is and where she comes from. He immediately re-immersed himself in the biographies of firebrands like Patrick Pearse and studied the Irish language. And he decided to reconnect with the man who had left him behind, and the nation just over the horizon. He began writing letters to his father about what he remembered, missed, and longed for. Those letters would become this book. <p/>Along the way, Michael realized that his longings were shared by many Americans of every ethnicity and background. So many of us these days lack a clear sense of our cultural origins or even a vocabulary for expressing this lack--so we avoid talking about our roots altogether. As a result, the traditional sense of pride has started to feel foreign and dangerous; we've become great consumers of cultural kitsch, but useless conservators of our true history. <p/>In these deeply felt and fascinating letters, Dougherty goes beyond his family's story to share a fascinating meditation on the meaning of identity in America.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>"A heartbreaking and redemptive book, written with courage and grace. It is fascinating reading for anyone who has ever wondered about the pain caused by that increasingly common American problem: sons growing up without their fathers. For those who have endured that pain, it is essential." --J. D. Vance, author of <i>Hillbilly Elegy</i> <p/> This rich, poetic book is not only about fathers and sons; it's also about discovering, through pain and perseverance, the most profound meaning of patriotism. --Rod Dreher, author of <i>The Benedict Option</i> <p/> "A beautiful ode to the father of a fatherless boy, and to the redemptive power of a sense of history." --Reihan Salam, author of <i>Melting Pot or Civil War? <p/></i>"A bracingly candid and deeply personal chronicle of growing up." --Yuval Levin, <i> <i>National Review</i> <p/> </i>"Beautiful, poignant . . . Dougherty's memoir resonates because loving your father and loving his history isn't unique to just some people and some places. We all want these same intangible things Dougherty so deftly describes." --<i><i>Washington Examiner</i> <p/> </i>"Through lyrical prose, Dougherty reconstructs nationhood's true definition." --<i><i>City Journal</i> <p/> </i>A book with a unique thesis, written by one of the most forceful and honest political commentators currently writing." --<i><i>University Bookman</i><br></i><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at <i>National Review</i>. This is his first book.
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