Sweet Liberty: Travels in Irish America

by Joseph O'Connor

Chronicles the Irish journalist and novelist's tour across America to visit nine towns called Dublin, with stops at cities and landmarks along the way

Genres: Travel, Irish Literature, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 1996

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes , The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls , as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction.

He was recently voted ‘Irish Writer of the Decade’ by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has some very funny parts, but overall, the author's unrelenting wise guy attitude ruined it for me. Also, it seems he realized fairly early on that his initial premise of visiting all the Dublins in America was flawed, they are simply not interesting enough for a book. However, he did not rethink his premise but blundered on filling up the pages with his views of American politics and music. Both subjects he should have left alone. The funny parts are very funny and many may consider reading this for that reason.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertente ed a tratti poetico diario di viaggio. La visita delle varie città chiamate Dublin che si trovano negli Usa diventa un pretesto per raccontare fatti e persone incontrati lungo il cammino, narrate con humour graffiante e intelligente. Inoltre, a fare da cornice , c'è la musica, grande passione dell'autore al quale dedica alcune delle pagine più belle del libro.

[mairywo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this while I was on a road trip through the USA. Not to all the Dublins but still. I like his travel writing a lot more than Bryson's actually, but maybe that's because British humor is more to my liking than most American. Plus, I don't think Bryson is funny (even in an American sense) while O'Connor is.

[Tim O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings Irish humour to America
very funny

[Marcia Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to get through three chapters of this book, but O'Connor's voice and writing style is so annoying that I stopped halfway through chapter two. First of all, I'm all about sarcasm, but too much is just annoying, and for as much as he claims to love the United States, he is extremely snarky about everything. Second, the writing is just sloppy. He makes comparisons to everything, with at least one in every paragraph. If his writing was stronger, he would be able to get his point across without using cliché's and comparing everything to popular culture. Lastly, he's just not that interesting, and he seems to focus on really mundane details that I just couldn't make myself care about.

[Sam Mccormack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this book are very interesting. I enjoyed reading about the impact of Irish immigration on various small towns in the US. Personal stories that shaped history are always of interest.

But the majority of the book is devoted to the author’s experiences during his trip. And he’s a hard guy to like. He doesn’t seem to enjoy the company of anyone that he meets, he writes in a very sarcastic way and crowns every experience with a poor metaphor. I really didn’t like him, so I didn’t enjoy this book.

[Patrick Moylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

pompous. all Americans idiots and I. love his novels. hope I see him in Dublin. father. striver with no destination aaah the Concorde!!!!!!!!!

[incipit mania]

Incipit

Quasi ogni anno, quando ero bambino, andavo in vacanza con i miei nel Connemara, una regione dell'Irlanda occidentale di una brulla bellezza che ti rimane dentro.....
Dolce libertà incipitmania.com

[Russell Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly brilliant book. From the first line to the last sentence it's engaging. It's funny. It's thoughtful. In short if you're going on a journey this is the perfect book. Read each chapter on it's own or fly through the whole book in one sitting. It's well worth a read.

[Naoise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not read in public if you are worried about making a scene for you WILL laugh out loud. A lot.

[ebeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

amusing, good