The Street Where They Lived
"Richard O’ Mara captivates our attention with the very first lines in the first of these twelve essays, telling of his childhood years in “Cork Town,” an impoverished neighborhood of Philadelphia. With rare honesty and a keen memory, he tells of the struggles of an Irish-American family during the years of the Great Depression – back in the days when the hyphenated term “Irish-American”was rarely used (“In those days,” he says, “people were simply Irish, or Italian, or Polish….”)."
“In The Street Where They Lived Richard O’Mara evokes the years of the Great Depression, an epoch that recedes further and further from living memory, as the people who lived through that era shuffle off, one by one, into the mists of the past. Reading these engrossing essays, the reader is gripped by two emotions: admiration at the author’s story-telling skill, and wonder – wonderment that a young man with such a background, raised in a home still steeped in the traditions of the Irish immigrants who poured into this country from their “ruined homeland,” struggling against the crushing poverty endured by so many during the years of the Great Depression, could develop into such a skilled and remarkable writer….”
--Betsy Olavarueth, editor, The Puerto Escondido Times
“Richard O'Mara grew up in a Philadelphia neighborhood burdened by ignorance and poverty, by racial and religious divisions, and by dereliction and crime. The author slowly freed himself from this stifling milieu and achieved his independence by joining the U.S. Army, which became his university. He gradually read and wrote himself into a real education that in time enabled him to become, first a reporter, and then a columnist and editor, for the Baltimore Sun papers. His vocation was provided by newspapers; his avocation – writing casual pieces on many and sundry subjects for literary magazines – was and is as an essayist, one of the best in the land.
This selection of pieces about his early life constitutes a lively and engaging autobiography that moves apace, carrying the reader along with the writer as his adventures and misadventures unfold. The Street Where They Lived is a narrative for the general reader, but it will hold a special enchantment for those who experienced a childhood marred by stark poverty during those tragic years of the Great Depression."
--George Core, editor, The Sewanee Review
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“In The Street Where They Lived Richard O’Mara evokes the years of the Great Depression, an epoch that recedes further and further from living memory, as the people who lived through that era shuffle off, one by one, into the mists of the past. Reading these engrossing essays, the reader is gripped by two emotions: admiration at the author’s story-telling skill, and wonder – wonderment that a young man with such a background, raised in a home still steeped in the traditions of the Irish immigrants who poured into this country from their “ruined homeland,” struggling against the crushing poverty endured by so many during the years of the Great Depression, could develop into such a skilled and remarkable writer….”
--Betsy Olavarueth, editor, The Puerto Escondido Times
“Richard O'Mara grew up in a Philadelphia neighborhood burdened by ignorance and poverty, by racial and religious divisions, and by dereliction and crime. The author slowly freed himself from this stifling milieu and achieved his independence by joining the U.S. Army, which became his university. He gradually read and wrote himself into a real education that in time enabled him to become, first a reporter, and then a columnist and editor, for the Baltimore Sun papers. His vocation was provided by newspapers; his avocation – writing casual pieces on many and sundry subjects for literary magazines – was and is as an essayist, one of the best in the land.
This selection of pieces about his early life constitutes a lively and engaging autobiography that moves apace, carrying the reader along with the writer as his adventures and misadventures unfold. The Street Where They Lived is a narrative for the general reader, but it will hold a special enchantment for those who experienced a childhood marred by stark poverty during those tragic years of the Great Depression."
--George Core, editor, The Sewanee Review
The Street Where They Lived
"Richard O’ Mara captivates our attention with the very first lines in the first of these twelve essays, telling of his childhood years in “Cork Town,” an impoverished neighborhood of Philadelphia. With rare honesty and a keen memory, he tells of the struggles of an Irish-American family during the years of the Great Depression – back in the days when the hyphenated term “Irish-American”was rarely used (“In those days,” he says, “people were simply Irish, or Italian, or Polish….”)."
“In The Street Where They Lived Richard O’Mara evokes the years of the Great Depression, an epoch that recedes further and further from living memory, as the people who lived through that era shuffle off, one by one, into the mists of the past. Reading these engrossing essays, the reader is gripped by two emotions: admiration at the author’s story-telling skill, and wonder – wonderment that a young man with such a background, raised in a home still steeped in the traditions of the Irish immigrants who poured into this country from their “ruined homeland,” struggling against the crushing poverty endured by so many during the years of the Great Depression, could develop into such a skilled and remarkable writer….”
--Betsy Olavarueth, editor, The Puerto Escondido Times
“Richard O'Mara grew up in a Philadelphia neighborhood burdened by ignorance and poverty, by racial and religious divisions, and by dereliction and crime. The author slowly freed himself from this stifling milieu and achieved his independence by joining the U.S. Army, which became his university. He gradually read and wrote himself into a real education that in time enabled him to become, first a reporter, and then a columnist and editor, for the Baltimore Sun papers. His vocation was provided by newspapers; his avocation – writing casual pieces on many and sundry subjects for literary magazines – was and is as an essayist, one of the best in the land.
This selection of pieces about his early life constitutes a lively and engaging autobiography that moves apace, carrying the reader along with the writer as his adventures and misadventures unfold. The Street Where They Lived is a narrative for the general reader, but it will hold a special enchantment for those who experienced a childhood marred by stark poverty during those tragic years of the Great Depression."
--George Core, editor, The Sewanee Review
“In The Street Where They Lived Richard O’Mara evokes the years of the Great Depression, an epoch that recedes further and further from living memory, as the people who lived through that era shuffle off, one by one, into the mists of the past. Reading these engrossing essays, the reader is gripped by two emotions: admiration at the author’s story-telling skill, and wonder – wonderment that a young man with such a background, raised in a home still steeped in the traditions of the Irish immigrants who poured into this country from their “ruined homeland,” struggling against the crushing poverty endured by so many during the years of the Great Depression, could develop into such a skilled and remarkable writer….”
--Betsy Olavarueth, editor, The Puerto Escondido Times
“Richard O'Mara grew up in a Philadelphia neighborhood burdened by ignorance and poverty, by racial and religious divisions, and by dereliction and crime. The author slowly freed himself from this stifling milieu and achieved his independence by joining the U.S. Army, which became his university. He gradually read and wrote himself into a real education that in time enabled him to become, first a reporter, and then a columnist and editor, for the Baltimore Sun papers. His vocation was provided by newspapers; his avocation – writing casual pieces on many and sundry subjects for literary magazines – was and is as an essayist, one of the best in the land.
This selection of pieces about his early life constitutes a lively and engaging autobiography that moves apace, carrying the reader along with the writer as his adventures and misadventures unfold. The Street Where They Lived is a narrative for the general reader, but it will hold a special enchantment for those who experienced a childhood marred by stark poverty during those tragic years of the Great Depression."
--George Core, editor, The Sewanee Review
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The Street Where They Lived
The Street Where They Lived
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940012859006 |
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Publisher: | Alondra Press, LLC |
Publication date: | 06/10/2011 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
File size: | 206 KB |
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