Rockin' the Bronx [Paperback]

Larry Kirwan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0863224180 | ISBN-13: 978-0863224188 | Publication Date: February 23, 2010

On a rash quest to track down his girlfriend Mary, naïve Irishman Sean Kelly becomes embroiled in the hellish wasteland of the 1980s Bronx. He stays on, determined to uncover the reason behind the sudden change in Mary. But the only job available for an undocumented Paddy is hard labor, and the only solace is found in beer and music. A vibrant, colorful evocation of New York City in the watershed years through the eyes of four young Irish immigrants, Rockin' the Bronx captures the visceral realities of life and death in the Irish slum-scape on Bainbridge Avenue. Faced with the excesses of the early 80s: drugs, aids, the Burning Bronx, and at home, the Troubles, Sean eventually emerges into manhood. ""Larry Kirwan writes with all the charm of his music. This is Angela's Ashes for a new generation.""--Thomas Keneally. ""A tremendous rock `n' roll saga . The prolific Kirwan offers writing about the transformative and curative powers of music and performance that is brilliant on its own, but his lovingly rendered portrait of American and Irish social and political realties in the 1980s is both brutal and magical."" -Library Journal ""A brilliant tales set in the gritty streets of the Yankee borough that was the epicenter of Irish Americana during the early eighties."" - Irish Voice ""Rockin' the Bronx has a headlong momentum and street-level immediacy, teeming with drama, romance, and politics."" - Philadelphia Inquirer

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pitting the lilt of an Irish brogue against the jazzy rhythm of pimps and drug dealers in the Bronx of the early 1980s, Irish-American author and playwright Kirwan (Green Suede Shoes) begins this roman à clef with arresting musicality. Intending to find his girlfriend, Mary, and return with her to Ireland, narrator Sean straps a guitar to his back and heads to New York. Despite his punk pretensions, Sean finds himself woefully unequipped to handle the New World problems that quickly arise: Mary and her new friend Danny are moody and inaccessible, and the unrelenting poverty, drugs, and racial and political tension leave Sean seeking escape in a bottle. As his musical and romantic dreams fade, so does the hopeful vibrancy that had made things bearable. In Sean's struggle, Kirwan captures a traumatic American moment, when relative innocents were confronting the rising epidemics of crack and AIDS, as well as intractable urban poverty; unfortunately, he drags out Mary and Danny's mystery afflictions to grating effect. Still, Sean's sometimes-obtuse narration never fully loses the thumping, violent rhythm of its opening passages.
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Review

A tremendous rock n roll saga ... The prolific Kirwan offers writing about the transformative and curative powers of music and performance that is brilliant on its own, but his lovingly rendered portrait of American and Irish social and political realties in the 1980s is both brutal and magical. --Library Journal "Larry Kirwan writes with all the charm of his music. This is Angela's Ashes for a new generation. --Thomas Keneally

"Rockin' the Bronx has a headlong momentum and street-level immediacy, teeming with drama, romance, and politics." - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Pitting the lilt of an Irish brogue against the jazzy rhythm of pimps and drug dealers in the Bronx of the early 1980s, Irish-American author and playwright Kirwan begins this roman a clef with arresting musicality." --Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Brandon Books (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863224180
• ISBN-13: 978-0863224188
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirwan Rocks as Writer, June 14, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Rockin' the Bronx (Paperback)

Larry Kirwan is the leader of the popular Irish rock 'n reggae band Black 47. He is a fist-pumping, charismatic entertainer with boundless energy; a New York City demigod of the Irish diaspora. His original songs belted out in raucous bars have resonated with the Irish community of nannies, construction workers, civil servants, and preppies for over two decades. But he is so much more than that as evidenced by his latest novel, ROCKIN' THE BRONX, which captures the contemporary Irish immigrant experience as powerfully as Colum McCann's National Book Award winner LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN.

Kirwan's novel is set in the early 1980's. Sean Kelly, a naïve young Irishman, arrives in New York City to find his girlfriend, Mary, who has fled her stultifying life in rural Ireland. He finds her trapped in a forlorn underworld of Puerto Rican pimps, drug dealers and urban decay. Sean has sacrificed everything in his quest to bring her to her senses and return with him to Ireland, but she'll have none of it. Unable to afford a return flight, he works hauling bricks up scaffolds. But at night he haunts the immigrant bars on Bainbridge Avenue that will pay an Irishman with a guitar and a voice that, when sufficiently lubricated, isn't all bad. Refusing to succumb to circumstances beyond his control, he gains a toehold in a crumbling, but strangely compelling, new world.

The novel is as passionate, witty and soulful as its creator. The Bronx is burning, Bobby Sands is starving, Reagan is president and a mysterious plague people are calling AID's is beginning to devastate the community. But life goes on in the pubs and alleys of the Bronx as Sean Kelly, yet another Celtic wanderer, discovers that to find true home one must sometimes leave it.

For all of Kirwan's achievements as a performer, his greatest gift is as a novelist. I think ROCKIN' THE BRONX ranks as high as anything being put out by Roddy Doyle, John Banville and, yes, even Colum McCann. I highly recommend it.

Tom Shawver, owner of Bloomsday Books in Kansas City.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirwan Rocks The Bronx!!, March 23, 2010

By 

Russ "KO Man" (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rockin' the Bronx (Paperback)

Larry Kirwan is becoming so much more than just the leader of irish rock band Black '47. His latest book Rockin' The Bronx tells the story of Sean who comes over to America from Ireland looking for his love Mary who moved into the Bronx to start a new life. This book takes place between 1980-1982. It is not only a love story but also is very funny, sad and political at times. The way that Larry Kirwan describes the Bronx bars, music and streets makes you feel as though you lived it. The story takes no shortcuts and is hard to put down with the twists and turns throughout the story. If you like Black '47's music then this story will be even more enjoyable for you. But, either way this book works and was worth the wait. It's a must read!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Rockin' Irish Tale of NY, January 8, 2011

By 

KBD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rockin' the Bronx (Paperback)

Larry captures that beautiful Irish poetic style of writing in his own - rough around the edges, did the hardcore music thing kind of way. A little slice of history in a novel from a great writer that knows it from the inside to tell it. A truly enjoyable read.