The Black Pool: A Memoir of Forgetting

by Tim MacGabhann

'An unforgettable, freewheeling masterclass'
Michael Magee, Nero Book Award-winning author of Close to Home
'Electric... It's a breath of fresh air, in a world of packaged and marketed versions of ourselves, to see raw pain and perseverance'
Daily Mirror

'Funny, nerve-wracking and utterly compelling'
Colin Barrett, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Wild Houses

'Extraordinary... A writer with a rare gift. I feel changed by it'
Belinda McKeon, author of Solace

'I was floored by the power and beauty of this book'
Donal Ryan, author of The Queen of Dirt Island

'A reading experience of the highest order'
Wendy Erskine, author of Dance Move

'Extraordinary'
Lisa McInerney, Women's Prize for Fiction-winning author of The Glorious Heresies

A raw and powerful memoir of addiction and recovery, across three continents and multiple drugs, from early childhood through adulthood.

Following an obsessive mind trying (and failing) to find relief, The Black Pool is a gripping thrill-ride through violent, chaotic underworlds. Tracing the roots of an illness through the failures of youth and adolescence and finally back to childhood, it's about all the wrong places where addicts look for transcendence - from work, to relationships, to writing, to anger.

It shows what happens when everything falls apart. It shows us rock bottom and the start of the journey to recovery from there. It's a memoir shot full of holes and shocking clarities. And towards the end, it achieves something like serenity - something like recovery.

'Raw and powerful' Irish Times , Books to look out for in 2025

'A vibrant, darkly humorous writer' Irish Independent , Non-fiction highlights for 2025

'A gripping and personal story of addiction' Irish Examiner, 2025 Books to Read

'Unflinchingly honest, heart-wrenching and life-affirming' RTÉ, 10 books we're looking forward to reading in 2025

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Addiction, Audiobook

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2025

Reviews

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving and vivid account of despair, and of the resulting alcoholism and addiction. Tim MacGabhann remember wanting to kill himself from a very young age, and he begins drinking in his mid teens. By the time he is in university, he is a serious alcoholic, and he begins taking heroin when he is teaching in Barcelona. Throughout this memoir, I was impressed by the clarity of MacGabhann's writing, and the imaginative and unflinching way in which he looks at his own despair, and the physical and mental impact of drugs and alcohol. MacGabhann writes with compassion about other people, and with searing honesty about himself, but what truly makes this memoir stand apart is its immersive, individual prose style, which is more reminiscent of Rimbaud or Sartre than the average personal memoir.

[Yared · Rating 5 out of 5]

i devoured this. it grips you by the shoulders and throttles you. i cackled at the last chapter, absolutely insane way to end it.

[María Belen Verdugo Gajardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It broke my heart. Thank you for writing it.

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Pool by Tim MacGabhann published May 22nd with Sceptre. It is described as ‘a raw and powerful memoir of addiction and recovery, across three continents and multiple drugs, from early childhood through adulthood.'

The Black Pool is an extraordinary memoir. Tim MacGabhann’s life experiences horrified me. In this unflinching account he takes the reader on an emotionally intense journey. Beginning in Ireland, he travels across continents carrying his addictions with him. Exposing his vulnerabilities, he provides us with a voyeuristic view of those nightmarish years.

Crossing paths with some very dangerous people, MacGabhann was fortunate to meet others who looked out for him. With an inheritance, and piecemeal work as a journalist, he was able to suspend much of his life, floating along in a drug-induced bubble. This treacherous path was slowly choking off his air supply as he tempted fate one too many times. His patterns of addiction are all described without gloss or polish. His life spiralled out of control on numerous occasions, hitting rock-bottom all too frequently.

Born in Kilkenny, MacGabhann studied in Trinity College, Dublin. Dropping out of his doctoral programme he eventually travelled to South America and Mexico. Finding himself in perilous situations he just about managed to survive. Today, living in Paris, he has attempted to join the dots and fill in the ‘memory holes‘ through this ‘Memoir of Forgetting.’

‘Forgetting was bliss beyond name to me. Those slow, years-long deletions, by needle, by bottle, by baggie: they were an aesthetic project to me’

MacGabhann is a complex individual. He has a very distinctive and colourful style of writing. Immersing oneself in The Black Pool is like stepping inside his brain. We witness the turmoil, as he tries to extract a reason for his existence. He asks very philosophical questions, going deep into his thoughts and actions.

The Black Pool is an uncompromising and terrifying read. Self-reflective, it is also tinged with hope. I’m not sure I have ever read something so completely unfiltered and challenging.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Pool is unlike any memoir I’ve read before. It feels like an experience and look, a lot of it is about addiction so the experience can be rough at times! But I was gripped.

MacGabhann is Irish & bounced around a bit before landing in Mexico. He started off teaching but then moved into crime reporting which sounded horrendous but reading about it was fascinating.

This was so evocative; you can feel Dublin wet & cold, the heat shimmering off the streets in Mexico City. It was also funny! Amidst the turmoil! Which to me is always an impressive feat.

I have loved the author’s fiction & similarly loved this, the writing was truly excellent. It was vulnerable! Depressing! Hopeful! Would really recommend.

*read via NetGalley

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read. The first twenty pages threaten to be a "poor me" diatribe but it develops nicely into an interesting and entertaining recollection of a life blighted by heavy substance abuse. The whole thing is held together by the charm of the author's voice and the writing in parts is impressively artistic. The book is probably at its best when observing the troubles of other people. Recommend!

[Ben Ingraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me mate Tim wrote this one

[lennibird · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant work