[.ca] A Drink with Shane Macgowan (ISBN 0802137903)

The Unrepentant Paddy:
Shane does an excellent job of explaining what a true Paddy is and how he has celebrated that tradition in his music to the delight of all his fans over the years. This was particularly insightful to me as an American who grew up far from the Irish enclaves. His commentary on how a real Paddy views popular Irish writers like Yeats was extremely insightful. I hate to see him killing himself the way it appears he insists on doing, laying it all off on the culture of the Paddy as some sort of excuse or artistic endeavor rather than the tragedy it is for an artist as visionary, bold and well read as this one. The book is "written" by his wife who tape records a series of interviews which meander horribly at times and badly need the help of a good editor. I found every other sentence of Shane's ending with, "you know what I mean," extremely annoying. There is some good stuff here, but I feel this was a project his wife and maybe the publisher wanted more than Shane. It has the feeling of someone trying to get coherent words out of another who may not be capable of speaking coherently, or at all, in the future.

MacGowan is the king !:
Forget what those pompous pricks say in their official review. The book's format works fine for true MacGowan fans. I rather liked Victoria's " stage directions, " as the reviewers call them, and Shane's humor had me laughing pretty damned hard. This book is a " must read " for any Pogues and/or MacGowan fan !

MacGowan and His Girl with Green Eyes:
A Drink with Shane MacGowan is a great read not only for fans and those curious about the break up of the Pogues but those who enjoy a bit of craic or great storytelling. One gets a peek inside a very unique and brilliant mind and also gains knowledge of interesting bits of Irish and punk era history. The somewhat maligned question and answer format is, in fact, an engaging way to shed light on the relationship between MacGowan and his closest companion. While leading to a greater understanding of the man himself, it acquaints the reader with Clarke, an interesting character in her own right. An established writer, she peppers the banter with lighthearted sarcasm, humorously toying with writing styles much in the way of Joyce (another first year English lit. groupie!) All in all it is a great book with a pint in a quiet corner of your favorite pub but works as well with tea and flannel pajamas - highly recommended!

Amazon Reviewer Devours a Plate of Chips, Hungrily.:
On your first read-through, I highly recommend taking your editing pen and marking out Victoria Mary Clarke's dribbling of adverbs. You'll be thankful you did the next time you dip into A DRINK WITH SHANE MACGOWAN. And trust me -- despite my grousing -- you'll want to read this book numerous times. Like other reviewers, I've absolutely no problem with the interview style of the book as it produces some splendid results and Ms. Clarke gets some wonderful details from Mr. MacGowan again and again. This is an absolute must for fans of the Pogues, the Popes and Irish literature especially.

"It's not that difficult, forcing a door.":
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.