A Song For Mary: An Irish-american Memory

Dennis Smith first ignited critical praise with Report from Engine Co. 82, a book drawn from his experiences as a New York City fireman. Now Smith returns with a new, passionately acclaimed memoir: a boisterous, poignant, often hilarious look at growing up Irish, Catholic, and poor on the sidewalks of New York. Here -- even as he dodges the slaps of merciless nuns and learns how to wallop a punching bag -- he is haunted by the specter of his mysteriously absent father. But it is Smith's mother, hardworking, no-nonsense Mary, who leads him by the hand to his Irish heritage and pulls him by the ear into adulthood. This loving reminiscence pays homage to her...to the undying strength of family and faith...and to the indestructible bond between mothers and sons.

In the tradition of Angela's Ashes and Snow in August comes a memoir of growing up Irish and poor that movingly testifies to the power of family, from the author of the two-million-copy bestseller Report from Engine Company 82.