"I am thinking of the seasons of my own life, learning now in my winter days I must shed what I have held most dear. Yet there is contentment, even joy, in a landscape of bare trees, when the light makes everything more stark and bittersweet." From "Walking with Ghosts: A Memoir" by Gabriel Byrne

Actor Gabriel Byrne's recently published memoir is an intensely personal exploration of his past, recounted in lyrical prose. Rather than follow a linear timeline, Byrne juxtaposes memories of his youth with comparable experiences in adulthood. The recollection of shopping for his first Communion suit, bought with his mother's hard-earned savings, is coupled with his experience of being dressed by designer Gianni Versace for a Paris fashion show. Byrne relates, with amusement, his acting debut in a nativity play (he was cast as a shepherd whose beard fell off during the performance). He then writes about his feature film debut in John Boorman's "Excalibur", in which his character makes love while clad in a full suit of armor (the scene received massive applause at the film's premiere).

While Byrne reveals details regarding his battle with alcohol addiction and the sexual abuse he endured from a Catholic priest, he sets boundaries around his privacy. Byrne makes no mention of his ex-wife, actress Ellen Barkin, nor his current wife Hannah, except to dedicate the book to her. His three children only make an appearance in the acknowledgements, where Byrne refers to them as the lights of his life. He does, however, discuss in detail his relationship with his mother and father and sister, who battled mental illness and died in her thirties. Byrne writes perceptively, and poetically, about family relationships. "Walking with Ghosts" is an unexpectedly beautiful book.


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The Last Rites of Joe May Film Review
Dennis Farina delivers an exceptional performance as a self-absorbed hustler who loses all his worldly possessions. Will he learn a lesson about human relationships or die an unlamented death?

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Angela K. Peterson, Drama Movies Editor
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