3.0
A Guest at the Feast
By Colm ToibinPublisher Description
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by LitHub and The Millions!
From one of the most engaging and brilliant writers of our time comes a “not to be missed” (LitHub) collection of eleven essays about growing up in Ireland during radical change; about cancer, priests, popes, homosexuality, and literature.
“IT ALL STARTED WITH MY BALLS.” So begins Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay, laced with humor, about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” The second essay in this seductive collection is a memoir about growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in the small town of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, the setting for many of Tóibín’s novels and stories, including Brooklyn, The Blackwater Lightship, and Nora Webster. Tóibín describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality.
In Part Two, Tóibín profiles three complex and vexing popes—John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. And in Part Three, he writes about a trio of authors who reckon with religion in their fiction. The final essay, “Alone in Venice,” is a gorgeous account of Tóibín’s journey, at the height of the pandemic, to the beloved city where he has set some of his most dazzling scenes. The streets, canals, churches, and museums were empty. He had them to himself, an experience both haunting and exhilarating.
“A tantalizing glimpse into Tóibín’s full fictional powers,” (The Sunday Times, London) A Guest at the Feast is both an intimate encounter with a supremely creative artist and a glorious celebration of writing.
From one of the most engaging and brilliant writers of our time comes a “not to be missed” (LitHub) collection of eleven essays about growing up in Ireland during radical change; about cancer, priests, popes, homosexuality, and literature.
“IT ALL STARTED WITH MY BALLS.” So begins Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay, laced with humor, about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” The second essay in this seductive collection is a memoir about growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in the small town of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, the setting for many of Tóibín’s novels and stories, including Brooklyn, The Blackwater Lightship, and Nora Webster. Tóibín describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality.
In Part Two, Tóibín profiles three complex and vexing popes—John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. And in Part Three, he writes about a trio of authors who reckon with religion in their fiction. The final essay, “Alone in Venice,” is a gorgeous account of Tóibín’s journey, at the height of the pandemic, to the beloved city where he has set some of his most dazzling scenes. The streets, canals, churches, and museums were empty. He had them to himself, an experience both haunting and exhilarating.
“A tantalizing glimpse into Tóibín’s full fictional powers,” (The Sunday Times, London) A Guest at the Feast is both an intimate encounter with a supremely creative artist and a glorious celebration of writing.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities9 Reviews
3.0
Finn Fischer
Created 3 months agoShare
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Wingnut
Created 8 months agoShare
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christopher brennan
Created 8 months agoShare
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Maddison O'Donnell
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“I am a big fan of Colm Tóibín's fiction, so when I saw a collection of his essays, it seemed like a "no-brainer" read to me. Unfortunately, after trying to trudge through this collection, I've learned that just because you like someone's fiction doesn't mean you'll automatically enjoy their nonfiction.
Tóibín is undoubtedly a talented and successful writer, but sometimes that isn't enough to render a boring topic interesting. This collection of essays started out with a personal-experience narrative that hit the perfect mark between funny and somber (I had hope! This captured the tone of his writing that I love), but from there, I just about drowned in verbose meanderings through papal history. Maybe it was too much Catholic school growing up, but I quite literally could not stay awake while reading these essays. In the end, I had to sadly write this collection off as a "did-not-finish" read - something I rarely, if ever, do. Until now.
That being said, I can't bear to give a writer I have a lot of respect for a one-star review, but I also can't objectively rate my reading of this collection above two stars. Some readers will genuinely really enjoy these essays - and I'm glad of that! But for others like me, maybe we're better off sticking to the tried-and-true Tóibínian fiction we already love.”
Oneboom
Created over 1 year agoShare
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About Colm Toibin
Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including Long Island, an Oprah’s Book Club Pick; The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary; and Nora Webster; as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and has been named as the Laureate for Irish Fiction for 2022–2024 by the Arts Council of Ireland. Three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Tóibín lives in Dublin and New York.
Other books by Colm Toibin
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