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Barrelhouse Kings
This memoir is the unique story of two Canadian writers, each well-known in his own way: Morley Callaghan and his son, Barry. It is a stunningly written recollection of the world in which Barry Callaghan grew up --- the world that was Morley's milieu as a writer and became Barry's as their lives dovetailed. Peopled with many unforgettable characters, this is an autobiography that will stand the test of time.
450 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Barry Callaghan
71 books2 followersBarry Morley Joseph Callaghan is a Canadian author, poet and anthologist. He is currently the editor-in-chief of Exile Quarterly. He is the son of late Canadian novelist and short story writer, Morley Callaghan.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 7, 2016
This is a fictional memoir of a father and son, both well-known and celebrated Canadian writers. Father son relationships are never easy, especially when the two are writers. Morley Callaghan is a Canadian icon who wrote fictional award winning novels. Barry his son is a talented poet, fiction writer, TV journalist and editor.
The story begins in the house in Toronto where Morley lived with his family and ends with Morley’s death.
In this book Barry neither idolizes nor demonizes his father. Instead his narrative appears ambivalent, drifting between moments of anger and love, not unlike the emotions that mark many father son relationships. And like those relationships, it was similarly characterized by tensions which often simmered below the surface, but they hovered there quietly until the relationship had time to regain its normal footing and maintain its equilibrium.
Barry describes what it was like to grow up in a family with a writer as a father. It was not always easy, but you met great people. As Barry says, “I was lucky in meeting great old men and having a great old man as a father”. In writing about Morley’s younger years, Barry relied on the letters he found after his father’s death, letters written by men such as Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemmingway.
In many ways, Barry has followed in his father’s footsteps. The two had a similar education, were both athletic, and both became writers living in Toronto. The home and the city with its family, friends and neighbours, provided an element of critical stability. It was the place where Morley wrote, locked in his small room that faced the street, working away on his typewriter. When Barry started to write it, this world became his own.
An interesting portrayal of the relationship between a father and son, both successful writers.
The story begins in the house in Toronto where Morley lived with his family and ends with Morley’s death.
In this book Barry neither idolizes nor demonizes his father. Instead his narrative appears ambivalent, drifting between moments of anger and love, not unlike the emotions that mark many father son relationships. And like those relationships, it was similarly characterized by tensions which often simmered below the surface, but they hovered there quietly until the relationship had time to regain its normal footing and maintain its equilibrium.
Barry describes what it was like to grow up in a family with a writer as a father. It was not always easy, but you met great people. As Barry says, “I was lucky in meeting great old men and having a great old man as a father”. In writing about Morley’s younger years, Barry relied on the letters he found after his father’s death, letters written by men such as Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemmingway.
In many ways, Barry has followed in his father’s footsteps. The two had a similar education, were both athletic, and both became writers living in Toronto. The home and the city with its family, friends and neighbours, provided an element of critical stability. It was the place where Morley wrote, locked in his small room that faced the street, working away on his typewriter. When Barry started to write it, this world became his own.
An interesting portrayal of the relationship between a father and son, both successful writers.
December 13, 2017
A good read overall. Excellent insights and observations about his father, Morley Callaghan. I enjoyed the parts featuring Hemingway as well. An interesting glimpse of what it was like growing up in the house of celebrated Canadian writer. Other parts of the book dragged a little.
June 1, 2016
Interesting look into life with his father and his group of friends who included Hemingway.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews