A kid from marlboro road - edward burns

An Irish-American family comes to life through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy in this debut novel by actor-filmmaker Ed Burns.

Immigrants and storytellers, lilting voices and Long Island moxie are all part of this colorful Irish-Catholic community in 1970s New York.

A Kid from Marlboro Road opens at a wake, as our twelve-year-old narrator, an aspiring writer, takes in the death of his beloved grandfather, Pop, a larger-than-life figure to him.

The overflowing crowd includes sandhogs in their muddy work boots, old Irish biddies in black dresses and cops in uniform, along with the family in mourning.

Theres an open casket, the first time hes seen a dead person.

Later, at the bar across the street, he tells a story to the assembled crowd about the day his dad proposed to his mom, and how he almost got beat up by her brothers for it, and then how Pop made him propose twice.

Stories cascade between the prior generations colorful origins in the Bronx and the softer world of Gibson, the town on Long Island where the family lives now.

There are scenes in the Rockaways, at Belmont Race Track, and in Montauk.

Out of individual struggles a collective warmth emerges, a certain kind of American story, raucous and joyous.

Includes black and white photographs from the authors Irish-American New York family history.