The Clancys of Queens
A Memoir
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4.4 • 19 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A witty memoir that weaves an authentic coming-of-age tale into a bold portrait of New York’s working-class women.
Fifth-generation New Yorker, third-generation bartender, and first-generation author Tara Clancy was raised in three wildly divergent homes: a converted boat shed in working class Queens, a geriatric commune of feisty, Brooklyn-born Italians, and a sprawling Hamptons estate she visited every other weekend. This childhood triptych comes to life in The Clancys of Queens, an electric, one-of-a-kind memoir.
From scheming and gambling with her force-of-nature grandmother, to brawling with eleven-year-old girls on the concrete recess battle yard of MS 172, to hours lounging on Adirondack chairs beside an immaculate croquet lawn, to holding court beside Joey O’Dirt, Goiter Eddy, and Roger the Dodger at her Dad’s local bar, Tara leapfrogs across these varied spheres, delivering stories from each world with originality, grit, and outrageous humor.
But The Clancys of Queens is not merely an authentic coming-of-age tale or a rowdy barstool biography. Chock-full of characters who escape the popular imaginings of this city, it offers a bold portrait of real people, people whose stories are largely absent from our shelves. Most crucially, it captures—in inimitable prose—the rarely-heard voices of New York’s working-class women.
With a light touch but a hard hit, The Clancys of Queens blends savvy and wit to take us on an unforgettable strata-hopping adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Clancy's debut, an intimate coming-of-age chronicle, captures the circumstances of her multi-class upbringing as the neighborhood "rat" of the Broad Channel section of Queens, N.Y.; a part-time member of "the Geriatrics of 251st Street"; and a weekender at the upscale seaside community of Bridgehampton. The reader navigates through this lighthearted memoir with the help of a sharp-tongued, hip-hop-loving sneaker enthusiast whose relentless attempts at disrupting the tranquility of nearly every situation make up the bulk of the antics covered in the book's 21-year sprawl. The rest come from an eclectic cast of friends and family that include Grandma Rosalie Riccobono, an Italian-American matriarch whose colorful curses serve as her everyday punctuation; Rosemary, a self-described "rebellious, alcoholic, soon-to-be-heroin-addict, giant butch built of tough Rockaway Irish stock"; and the regulars at Gregory's Bar and Restaurant, the nautical-themed neighborhood watering hole. Set against the grunge and rap backdrop of the late 1980s and early '90s Queens, the heart of Clancy's thoroughly enjoyable narrative lies in her examination of life in the spaces between social classes, and the threads of humanity shared equally by the local pothead high schoolers, antique-collecting Hamptons businessmen, and the Irish-American cops of New York City.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful Approach to a Modern Memoir
I picked this up with some hesitation having read enough whiny contemporary memoirs. The fact that the author is straight out of a working class in Queens persuaded me to try it out though and I’m totally glad I did. Hilarious and no whining whatsoever. It’s an eye opener! Great.
Irish/Italian New York Story - beautiful Story
What a great author. Reading this book one feels as though living the story.
Powerful writing, emotional, and all the crazy New York stories come to life.
The people are so memorable, especially Grandma. Being a New York Italian girl from Queens this book brought back such great memories. And the close knit family, the love, the happy times, the sad times, this book has it all.
I hope she continues to write more stories, better yet, a Play. This book would be great on a stage.