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Summary and Reviews of Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

Charming Billy

by Alice McDermott
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (5):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 1998, 280 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 1999, 243 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Tells the story of the late Billy Lynch within the complex matrix of a tightly knit Irish American community, in a voice that is resonant and filled with deep emotion.

In a fierce, witty, haunting novel--a masterpiece about the unbreakable bonds of memory and desire--the National Book Award-nominated author of "That Night" tells the story of the late Billy Lynch within the complex matrix of a tightly knit Irish American community, in a voice that is resonant and filled with deep emotion.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Alida Becker
Alice McDermott's eloquent and unsettling new novel begins with a death--and a distinctly inconvenient resurrection.... Like its title character, McDermott's novel works on our sympathies with an insistent and ingratiating charm.

Kirkus Reviews
A softly resonant and nostalgic tale told so masterfully, so movingly, that it seems to distill a human essence on virtually every page.

Library Journal
With carefully drawn character studies and gentle probing, McDermott, who won the National Book Award for this work, masterfully weaves a subtle but tenacious web of relationships to explore the devastation of alcoholism, the loss of innocence, the daily practice of love, and the redeeming unity of family and friendship.

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Read-Alikes

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