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It is New Year's Eve in Dublin, 1959. On the rooftop of 44 Seville Place, ten-year-old Peter Sheridan clings to the steel rod of a television antenna. When his father urges him to turn the antenna toward England, the boy reaches up, and pictures from a foreign place beam into their living room. Life in the Sheridan family will never be the same again.
As the 1960s unfold, the Sheridans experience all the decade has to offer: sex, the Beatles, drugs, and The Troubles in Belfast. One of the best-known figures in Irish contemporary theater, Peter Sheridan recounts these hilarious, awkward, and heartbreaking years with exquisite timing and dramatic precision. Honest, sharp-witted, and compassionate, 44: Dublin Made Me draws us into this loving family as we explore the Dublin that shaped this young boy.
"Seldom has the blossoming of artistic passion been so effectively captured . . . it will get into your brain and your blood and stay there a long time."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Peter Sheridan writes at the crossroads where hilarity and heartbreak, tenderness and savagery meet. The people who live there are often cruel, often magnificent, and always, always human. He captures them perfectly."--Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and A Star Called Henry
"Sharp, jazzy, hilarious, and often painful . . . You'll rejoice in this wild song of a book."--Frank McCourt
44 was short-listed for The Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Nonfiction
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By Laura M. Null (Virginia)
When I bought 44: Dublin Made Me, it was primarily because my mother had been born on the same street, at No. 77, a generation before, in 1917. All I knew of the place was the stories she had told me of her childhood.
As you might guess, I ended up loving the book for itself, and enjoying Sheridan's voice (I buy his other books as I find them). I fell madly in love with his entire family. However, my original purpose was satisfied anyway - Sheridan has painted a wonderful portrait of a place and a culture, which was what I'd been seeking all along.
By Paul S. Jellinek (New Jersey)
Peter Sheridan gives a brave and honest account of his formative years growing up in a working class Dublin family, reminiscent of Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clark: Ha Ha Ha." It is a deeply felt book, full of the frustrations and joys of everyday family life. His parents, in particular, are beautifully renderred. At times, I found the choppiness of Sheridan's style a little jarring, and the final chapters seemed a little rushed, but on balance, I definitely enjoyed the book, and do not hesitate to recommend it.
By Roisin Heatherton (New Jersey, USA)
Happiness is in the eye of the individual..to me this was a tragic family life...a mother overburdened with a houseful of children and a self centered husband. All the sader for me to review since I'd read 47 Roses first and knew the father to be less than honest with family.
By C. D. Grady (The Netherlands)
The story is about Peter growing up with his family in North Dublin and is set in the 1960's. The tightly knit family relations with his own family and those of his extended family of lodgers, which his parents took in to supplement his father's income, forms the backdrop to his story at 44 Seville Place.
The pace of the book has the rhythm of the sixties. The short sentences beat out the rhythm of the sixties and keeps the tempo up-beat throughout the whole of the book. For those who have experienced Dublin in the sixties this book will take you back to that place and that time.
The metaphorical pieces were very touching and masterfully executed. One example of this technique was when Peter tries to get to grips with his emotions concerning the possible loss of his brother Frankie before Frankie goes into surgery. A joy to read.
Da is the Sun and all the minor planets revolve around him. Peter takes to his role as Mercury the messenger with great relish. There is a strong bond between father and son.
I feel this story should not be compared to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. A one generation step into the future in Ireland can make a very big difference in how life is experienced.
It was a very enjoyable read whereby the need to laugh out loud in places could not be silenced. However there were places in the book where the need to cry out loud could also not be silenced.
By Kate Westrich (Cincinnati, Ohio United States)
As if drawn by a gravitational pull, Irish yarns seem to center on the relationship of children with their mothers. In a break from this natural order, Peter Sheridan's memoir, 44 Dublin Made Me turns to the bond of a boy with his father for its compelling tale.
Sheridan writes about his childhood with grace and ease. Readers are catapulted into his large Irish family in 1959 from the first sentence onward.
Peter Sheridan is a good Irish boy who enjoys school and loves the hectic life Dublin offers. His best friend, Andy, hates school but loves traipsing around the city in search of fortune.
The two boys influence each other in both good and bad ways - Andy gets involved with the church after a stint in reform school, and Peter learns to stand up for himself. In the end though, Andy remains the rogue and Peter the goody-two-shoes.
A steady presence throughout the book is Peter's Da. The man has his own outhouse in the garage, preaches to his family like they are his disciples and relies on his wins at the horse races as a major means of income.
Peter is his Da's helper and is ordered to do just about every imaginable task - from climbing up an ariel on the roof to fix the TV's reception to digging holes in the garage to fix water pressure.
When Peter's brother, Frankie, falls ill, their Da finds himself unable to cope. Peter tries to fill in for his father and be someone for his mother to rely on. After his father regains his strength, he and Peter find their friendship stronger.
Peter also runs errands all over the city and helps out with the tenants his parents have taken in.
One of these boarders, Mossie, plays a crucial role in Peter's life. Mossie robs Peter of his innocence, terrifies and scars him so deeply that Peter withdraws inwardly. Unable to find comfort, Peter then seeks solace at the hands of the church.
Illness and deaths make Peter grow up quickly and 44 Dublin Made Me documents his maturation. Andy gets a girl "in trouble" and quickly marries to take responsibility for the situation. As his world changes, Peter adapts.
Sheridan's strength is that he writes his story, which could be sad, as hopeful and happy. Rather than just have stories from his childhood strung together as some memoirs do, 44 Dublin Made Me creates a touching story.
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