Charming Billy [Paperback]

Alice McDermott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1999

Billy Lynch's family and friends have gathered at a small Bronx bar. They have come to comfort his widow and to eulogize one of the last great romantics, trading tales of his famous humor, immense charm, and unfathomable sorrow. As they linger on into this extraordinary night, their voices form Billy's tragic story and their mourning becomes a gentle homage to all the lives in their small community fractured by grief, shattered by secrets, and sustained by the simple dream of love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Charming Billy is a devastating account of the power of longing and lies, love's tenacity, and resignation's hold. Even at his funeral party, Billy Lynch's life remains up for debate. This soft-spoken, poetry lover's drinking was as legendary among his Queens, New York, family and friends as was his disappointment in love. But the latter, as his cousin Dennis knows, "was, after all, yet another sweet romance to preserve." After World War II, both young men had spent one sun-swept week on Long Island, renovating a house and falling in with two Irish sisters--nannies to a wealthy family--"marveling, marveling still, that this Eden was here, at the other end of the same island on which they had spent their lives."

By the end of their idyll, Billy and Eva were engaged, though she was set to return to County Wicklow. Determined to earn enough money to bring her, her family, and if necessary her entire village back to the U.S., Billy took two jobs, one of which would indenture him for years. But despite the money he sent, Eva never returned, and then was suddenly dead of pneumonia. The true tragedy is that she had simply kept her fare and married someone else--a secret Dennis keeps for the next 30 years as he watches Billy fall into a loveless marriage and the self-administered anesthesia of alcohol.

Alice McDermott's quiet, striking novel is a study of the lies that bind and the weight of familial wishes. She seems far less interested in the shock of revelation than in her characters' power to live through personal disaster. As Dennis's daughter pieces together Billy's real history, she also learns of the accommodations her own family had long made--and discovers that good intentions can be as destructive as the truth they mean to hide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When Billy, the glue of a tight Irish community in New York, dies as a result of lifelong alcohol abuse, mourners gather around roast beef and green bean amandine to tell tales and ruminate on his struggle for happiness after he lost his first love, Eva. 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.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Dell Publishing; First Printing edition (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038533334X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333344
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (302 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Devastating emotional impact, masterful writing, July 22, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charming Billy (Paperback)

Like the earlier reader with a 5 star review, I too had to comment on "Charming Billy" after reading the negative customer reviews which have recently been posted here. Though I read this book months ago, it remains one of the best written and most memorable books I have read in many years. It cannot be said to be an enjoyable book, unless can take pleasure in the level of artistry and characterization achieved by a subtle writer. It does not depend on plot, the story's main events are revealed early--both in the text and in all the reviews. There is no suspense, no submarine or serial killer, no cannibalism or girlish conversations. To witness Billy's destruction as a participant in the drama--for that is the achievement of the author, to have forced the reader beyond distant observation--is painful and wears on your ability to accept the depressing emotions that result. For those whose imagination can only be stimulated when their heart is accelerating, this book cannot satisfy, but reading it is a moving experience. It is an exploration of motivation, of self-destruction, of love and of the quality of 'unselfishness', of the sources of decay and of the misguided nature of those who take upon themselves the judgement of what is best for others. It makes you wish you could weep and find some relief.

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't drag yourself through it..., December 30, 1999

By 

Stacy Bodziak - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charming Billy (Paperback)

First off, it's amazing how polarized these reviews are! I guess you either love this book or you hate it.

I started Charming Billy with an open mind. However, it is the only book I have had to FORCE myself to finish. It took such effort to drag myself to the end of it. It's also one of the few books I wish I had never bought.

Though I respect everyone's opinion, I honestly can't understand some of the other reviewers' fascination with the prose or characterization. To me, the book seemed so awkwardly written, like something I had written in creative writing in college (believe me, I am NOT complimenting myself :) The prose is very self-conscious. I couldn't lose myself in either the characters or their story because I couldn't get past the facade of the words.

Why on earth did McDermott write this book from the perspective of the daughter of one of the main characters? It takes a while to figure out who is speaking and when you do know who it is, you never find out WHO SHE IS. You never get to know her at all. She barely speaks to the other characters, rarely interacting even in the group scenes. Her distance from the story creates distance for the reader. Without some connection to her as the voice of the story, it's hard to care about what she's telling you. (And - most awkwardly, I must say - at times she seems to be directing the story to her husband. Why? Does anyone have an opinion on this?)

To be fair, I thought the story briefly lit up during the scenes describing Sheila and Daniel's courtship, mainly because the narrator faded into the background during those scenes. Unfortunately, throughout the rest of the story, I was unable to get past the narrator's odd presence to enjoy it.

One last comment. It seems like a lot of the readers who gave this book 5 stars think that those of us who didn't like it don't read often or are confused by the shifting time line. That's not it! I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about this one. I must say I've enjoyed reading these reviews of Charming Billy far more than the book itself.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "tightly woven fabric of affection", March 2, 2000

By 

Linda K. Crawford - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charming Billy (Hardcover)

I'm sorry to read negative reviews of this book. It was exquisite, in simplicity of language, vividness of character, intracacies of plot and structure. What I love is the mirroring of lives as tales are told through the perspectives of the generations of this Irish American family. Billy's story is Dennis' story; Eva's story is Maeve's story; Kate's story is is Claire's story, and all stories are the narrator's story: that's what a family is. So much to explore and reflect upon here: youth, death, obsession, love, perception, truth, benevolence, mercy, generosity, guilt, selfishness, redemption, illusion, reality, to say nothing of alcoholism, marriage, family, success, racism and religion. My favorite line, which I think sums the book up tidily: "...then the story of his life, or the story they would begin to re-create for him this afternoon, would have to take another turn." There is the reality of a life, and quite separate from it are the perceptions that color it, in actuality and in memory. This book exquisitely explores perception and attitude, and the difference they make in a life. Hats off to Alice McDermott; this is such a rewarding, thought-provoking piece of work, I just thank her for creating it.