Irish actor Gabriel Byrne has maintained a lauded and diverse career on stage and screen for 40 years. And the story of his life--especially his formative years as the oldest child in a poor, hardworking family at a time when Ireland was struggling to find a place in the modern world and the twisty roads he's traveled as a performer--is as fascinating as his long list of credits.
Byrne was born in Dublin in 1950, a time when the Catholic Church anchored the lives of many in Ireland. The church's presence looms large in his story, as Byrne was determined from boyhood to become a priest. In seminary, he endured sexual abuse by a learned member of the clergy. The violations shape and haunt Byrne throughout his life, as he ultimately gave up his religious training and stumbled to find his way toward acting in his 30s. Along the way of his ascendant, storied career, alcoholism as a means of escape plagued him until he finally stopped drinking in his 50s.
With fearless courage and moving candor, Byrne's well-drawn, stream-of-conscious narrative reveals intimate moments and memories that shaped his life--for better and for worse. Victories and challenges, colorful characters and moments of levity and wit permeate this thoughtful, moving memoir. Byrne, an introverted, insightful man of great sensitivity and intellect, found a constructive and creative way ultimately to transcend the demons of his life. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines