A Celtic Childhood - Softcover

Watkins, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0976520184 ISBN 13: 9780976520184

Publisher: Mighty Media Press, 2011

Synopsis

A Celtic Childhood vividly portrays Bill Watkins' eccentric Celtic family: his vibrant Irish mam whose "hand is on the tiller" as head of household; his principled but stout-loving Welsh dad; and his Grandda, who has "a generous supply of Celtic songs and tall stories." These tales from Watkins’ boyhood find him disrupting weddings while dressed as a gangster, illegally operating a ham radio, and getting kicked out of Ireland for "vagrancy." The lively anecdotes of A Celtic Childhood sing from the page with a keen sense of rhythm.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

It's a brave act to publish a book that will inevitably be compared with Angela's Ashes in the same season as Frank McCourt's eagerly awaited sequel, 'Tis. Yet Watkins's demurely titled, rollicking memoir of his boyhood in postwar Ireland and England can bear the comparison, and it deserves to be read for its own brilliance, rhythm and structure. Laugh-out-loud funny, with an eccentric cast of characters (including a "spheraphobic" uncle who wouldn't eat anything round), Watkins's embellished childhood tales make for pure reading pleasure. Language lovers will be charmed by his expressions ("a great feast of a woman") and the glossary of such exotic terms as doolally (to get mad at someone) and Adam and Eve it (believe it). Born in 1950 in Limerick, where, according to his mother, "you can't spit without hitting a piece of history," Watkins inherited the bardic and musical talents of his parents. Mam was gregarious, beautiful and staunchly Irish and Catholic, always ready with a ballad. His Welsh father was raised in Britain and grew up to be an agnostic and freethinker given to drinking and good-natured fighting. The family lived happily in various places: a caravan (trailer), public housing and with his father's family in Birmingham, England. Covering the first 17 years of his life, this first installment in a projected trilogy is a fine coming-of-age story, woven from tales of Watkins's family, school days and boyish adventures, as well as of Catholicism, ghosts and his rambles as a teenage musician. Though it is laced with deprivation and pathos (including the loss of two babies), Watkins's story isn't permeated with the sadness of McCourt's work, though it's equally memorable. Four-city author tour. (Sept.) FYI: The second installment in Watkins's trilogy, Scotland Is Not for the Squeamish, is projected for publication in fall 2000.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

This book represents another variation on the currently popular theme of Irish childhood memoirs. Unlike the troubling Angela's Ashes (LJ 8/96), most of this memoir consists of happy childhood tales. The book begins in 1955, when a five-year-old Watkins moves with his parents (his mother is Irish, his father, Welsh) to England. Readers then journey with Watkins through his childhood in the British Isles. The book is filled with entertaining anecdotes and information about Celtic history and languageAreaders learn about Celtic euphemisms, curses, blessings, and songs. (There's even a complete glossary of vocabulary and lyrics.) It should be noted, however, that Watkins fails to cite any historical or scholarly references; the stories that populate this book appear to have been handed down orally through Watkins's family. Recommended for larger libraries serving patrons interested in modern Celtic themes.AAngela M. Weiler, SUNY Libs., Morrisville
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mighty Media Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0976520184
• ISBN 13: 9780976520184
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312