A Drink with Shane MacGowan
by Shane MacGowan, Victoria Mary Clarke

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Book Reviews of A Drink with Shane MacGowan

Book Review: "It's not that difficult, forcing a door."
Summary: 4 Stars

The book is a transcription of taped question-and-answer sessions he had with his wife (Victoria Mary Clarke). There are two problems with this:

First of all, Clarke seems to not know when to shut up and let Shane go. He's often in the middle of some great story, and when he pauses seemingly to take a breath, she interrupts with some unrelated question. This leads to another great story, of course, but the reader is left with the feeling that there was much more to the first one, which will now never be heard.

The second problem is that Clarke periodically interrupts the transcription with italicized comments about the current setting of the interview (e.g. that they are in the airport during the taping, or that Shane picks up a pack of cigarettes, or whatever). This wouldn't be so bad, except that she has a horrible habit of treating these as opportunities for self-aggrandization: stuff like "Victoria looks resplendent as she sips her wine", or "Victoria daintily smiles, glorious as always". Perhaps these are meant as self-effacing sarcasm, but they sure come off as ridiculously obnoxious. After a while, I found myself skipping any text in italics.

Other than those things, though, this is a fun book; though she seemingly tried, Clarke simply could not take the fun out of MacGowan's stories.

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