The Big Yank: Memoir of a Boy Growing Up Irish

It would have been easy for this tale of a child growing up in an impoverished home in rural Donegal, Ireland during the late 1960s and 1970s, with parents apparently totally lacking in emotional warmth and all too ready to dole out physical punishment, to become a “misery memoir”. But JP Sexton’s natural talent for humorous writing, innate optimism and iron determination to make a better life for himself makes for a joyous, riotously entertaining read. I am not Irish but I married into an Irish family, rooted in the Irish countryside and blessed with the Irish talent for storytelling and reminiscing. For me, this book captures the essence of what it was like to grow up amongst the captivating natural beauty and grinding poverty of that particular time and place. Recommended.

This book by J. P. Sexton is about a boy and his family growing up in County Donegal, Ireland after they immigrated back to Ireland from New York. The book is set in the 1960s and 1970s and it takes readers through the journey of his family life after setting foot back in Ireland. They are poor family and spend a lot of time staying with family members when they first arrive in Ireland but eventually end up living in a bus and then on a farm.
The book takes readers through a journey of a dysfunctional Irish American family whose parents are totally lacking in emotional warmth and are all too ready to dole out physical and verbal abuse from an incredibly early age on JP and the rest of his younger siblings. J.P. shares how they suffer at the hands and size 14 feet of his father, the Big Yank.
JP is forced to cut his childhood short and assume a man’s role on the family farm when his father is diagnosed as suffering from Multiple Sclerosis when Jp is still in primary school. One good thing in J.P.’s life is his grandfather who is a very lovable rogue whose self-entertainment pranks know no bounds and he will have your sides aching as you laugh at the antics he gets up to especially when he must help kill the family baby goat or takes JP. To his first Job interview in Dublin.
J.P. lays bare his family history, sharing his slow climb out of a severely dysfunctional childhood with us, and how he learns early how to survive his dysfunction parents abuse and he overcomes their inability to nurture him, and J.P. rises above it all to get a job in the Garda.
I am of Irish decent and my family live on the west coast Ireland, so it was lovely to read and a trip down memory lane and brought back many Memorys for me. This modern history of Ireland can only be told the way the Irish are known throughout the world as being consummate story tellers. I was riveted to J.P.’s journey all the way. This is A beautifully professional written memoir light-hearted, witty, and emotional, by JP Sexton and I look forward to reading more books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was hesitant to read this book because I knew the premise - the author grew up poor in 1960s Donegal, Ireland, and was physically and mentally abused by his parents. But the author had such an inviting way of writing his history that it was an enjoyable story to read. I kept turning the page because I wanted to see what was next for him.

While he wasn't a saint himself, he and his brother had to deal with so much from his emotionally detached parents, and reading about the work he was forced to endure broke my heart. However, the author never uses a self-pitying tone, and the experience made him stronger because he knew what he needed to do with his life in order to escape his family, and he did it. My favorite part of the book is when he reminded his brother of the pact they'd made when young to never physically hurt their own children.

I see that the author has a sequel to this and I had to buy it. Looking forward to reading more.