A Drink with Shane MacGowan [Paperback]

Shane MacGowan (Author), Victoria Mary Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2001

Best known as the cofounder of the Irish band The Pogues, Shane MacGowan has become a cult figure on the alternative-music scene. His achingly beautiful lyrics, as well as his legendary lifestyle of excess, have earned him an avid following that packs his shows and buys his albums. One of the most unusual memoirs to come along in quite a while, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is structured as a series of interviews between MacGowan and his wife, Clarke. The singer recounts his experiences growing up on a farm in Ireland, where his family began giving him two pints of Guinness a night at the tender age of five and his father took him to hang out with bookies and drunks at the local pub. He tells of moving to London and becoming part of the London club scene in the mid-1970s, just as punk was beginning to emerge, offering a firsthand portrait of a seminal time and place in music history. MacGowan also provides his own, strongly opinionated views on The Pogues' success and the reasons for his abrupt departure from the band. As he invites us into this fascinating world, MacGowan tells many hilarious stories and riffs on a wide range of subjects, from Irish history and politics to literature, film, religion, his own substance abuse, and much more. Sometimes maddening, sometimes charming, often brilliant, and always honest, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is an enjoyable romp with a truly unique personality. PRAISE FOR SHANE MACGOWAN: "MacGowan can be a dazzling songwriter, channeling his unruliness into rambunctious tales of drinking, sporting, drinking, fighting, and drinking."--Los Angeles Times

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Let this be a forewarning to all self-respecting pop pinups and rock stars pondering penning an autobiography or memoir: do not, as former Pogues singer and lyricist MacGowan and his writer-wife Clarke did, use a question-and-answer format. This collaboration, the couple's first, is an especially unfortunate publishing fatality because MacGowan's life is such a juicy subject, and its exaggerated, grandiosely booze- and drug-littered escapades and cameos by Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten and Elvis Costello are worthy of a second look. After drinking his first stout at the tender age of five with the milkman, MacGowan went on to play a major role in London's punk scene in the mid- and late 1970s. Later, he founded the Irish band The Pogues, which merged Irish folk styles with rock and roll. (MacGowan has also recorded with the Popes and on his own.) However, the book's Q&A format blends these and other adventures with inane revelations ("I've been a lover and a hater of beetroot all my life"), petty spats, ridiculous questions ("Tell me more about Matt Dillon") and contrived, self-flattering stage directions ("Victoria, radiant as ever, in pale green silk which becomes her consumes a plate of chips, hungrily"). 16 b&w photos not seen by PW. (June)Forecast: Booksellers shouldn't expect rocking numbers, for it's doubtful that even most diehard fans will find this unedited banter between MacGowan and his missus stimulating.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

An irreverent look into the colorful convictions of Irish cult hero MacGowan, this book occasionally entertains but ultimately suffers from MacGowan's persistent self-aggrandizement. Presented in a messy question-and-answer format, with Clarke (MacGowan's wife) in the interviewer's seat, this collaboration exploits MacGowan's success as one of the founding members of the Irish rock band, the Pogues. The authors assume that this past musical achievement renders him a worthy critic of politics, literature, and religious practices. Unfounded rants abound, unfortunately overshadowing the book's intriguing coverage of MacGowan's intimate ties to London's 1970s punk and 1980s post-punk scenes. The former Pogues singer/songwriter was revealed to greater effect in Niall Stanage's Down All the Days: The Life and Music of Shane MacGowan (o.p.). Not recommended. Caroline Dadas, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Saivetz, Deborah. An Event in Space: JoAnne Akalaitis in Rehersal.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (May 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802137903
• ISBN-13: 978-0802137906
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shane is interesting as always...writing is horrible, August 16, 2006

By 

BK (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Drink with Shane MacGowan (Paperback)

This book was a major disappointment for me, I write annoyingly. It seems the "author" had a deadline to meet and threw this trash together at the last minute, I write this time frustratingly. If you like reading an adverb at the end of every sentence this is the book for you. The author has an amazing subject to work with here and chooses to simply mail it in. I can't believe the publisher let her get away with this. If I ever meet this author I will ask for my money back quickly. I teach third grade and most of my students write better than this garbage. I wish I never bought it, I end this review disappointedly.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It's not that difficult, forcing a door.", February 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Drink with Shane MacGowan (Paperback)

Shane MacGowan is sort of a thinking man's hooligan, or a hooligan's thinking man. Due to this rare combination, one would expect that he has some terrific stories to tell, and this book doesn't disappoint in that respect. It ranges all over the map, from his fascinatingly unusual childhood to his London punk days to his time with the Pogues and to the present; from discussions of literature to history to music to religion.

The book is a transcription of taped question-and-answer sessions he had with his wife (Victoria Mary Clarke). There are two problems with this:

First of all, Clarke seems to not know when to shut up and let Shane go. He's often in the middle of some great story, and when he pauses seemingly to take a breath, she interrupts with some unrelated question. This leads to another great story, of course, but the reader is left with the feeling that there was much more to the first one, which will now never be heard.

The second problem is that Clarke periodically interrupts the transcription with italicized comments about the current setting of the interview (e.g. that they are in the airport during the taping, or that Shane picks up a pack of cigarettes, or whatever). This wouldn't be so bad, except that she has a horrible habit of treating these as opportunities for self-aggrandization: stuff like "Victoria looks resplendent as she sips her wine", or "Victoria daintily smiles, glorious as always". Perhaps these are meant as self-effacing sarcasm, but they sure come off as ridiculously obnoxious. After a while, I found myself skipping any text in italics.

Other than those things, though, this is a fun book; though she seemingly tried, Clarke simply could not take the fun out of MacGowan's stories.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Drink With A Drunk MacGowan, June 20, 2001

By 

Musicfan101 "musicfan101" (Chicago, Ill) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Drink with Shane MacGowan (Paperback)

I finally was able to read a book about a huge influence in my life. I would rather really have a drink with MacGowan, but the odds are not very good, so i'll settle for the text. The text is mostly written by Shane's wife/Girlfriend. What I got from this book was a huge eight part interview between Victoria, and Shane. The interviews varied from a cottage in Ireland, to a conversation at a pub. The book starts out with Shane reflecting his childhood in Ireland, and how his family moved throughout England, and how much he hated leaving Tippary, Ireland. I thought that was by far the best part of the book, and not the rantings and ravings about how bitter he seems about the breakup of The Pogues, or how he got nicked by the coppers, or sent to the looney bin. It was a good read, but not a great one. Some of Shane's answers vary from question to question, and Victoria even reminds him about it. I feel Mr. O'Hooligan (MacGowan)comes across as a brilliant, yet moody, sensitive poet/songwriter, who has been a part of a great period in music, from the beginning of U.K. punk, to the beginning of Celtic/Pirate/Punkrock. instead of the more traditional Celtic music, Shane helped the world hear Celtic music from a more modern punkrock type of angle. And look how far that "type" of music has come!!! From The Dropkick Murphys in Boston, To The Flogging Mollys In L.A., via one lead singer from Dublin. The Book is something every Shane/Pogues fan should have, but then again as a fan it's the only book I have(On the subject of Shane) A word of warning; I feel like Shane really didn't talk about the upside of being in the Pogues, because he seems to almost knock the other members of the band more than once. (Although he does have a Handwritten Apology on the last page in the book that says something like "I was only speaking from the Heart..." A heart still bitter about the breakup of The Pogues. The most important part of the book is when Shane explains how much he really truly loves his emerald isle of Ireland. That part was the best part of the book. Do give it a read!!