Back from the Brink: The Autobiography
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Book Overview
Paul McGrath is Ireland's best loved sportsman and also its least understood. An iconic football presence during a professional career stretching over 14 years, he played for his country in the European Championship finals of 1988 and the World Cup finals of 1990 and 1994. But, behind the implied glamour of life in the employ of great English clubs like Manchester United and Aston Villa, McGrath wrestled with a range of destructive emotions that made his success in the game little short of miraculous.
That story has until now never been told. It is a story that runs from a hard, hidden childhood spent in Dublin's orphanages all the way to the pain of two marriage break-ups and the struggle to cope with life after football. Quite apart from his all too public struggle with alcoholism, the story runs through the surreal highs and calamitous lows of a life lived habitually on the edge of chaos. It is not just a football story. It is an extraordinary human story that is certain to surprise with its candour. Here, for the first time, read about the father he never met; the mother whose love never died; the routine loneliness and ritual bullying endured by a black kid growing up behind closed doors in 1960s Dublin; the emotional breakdown suffered on leaving that institution; the recovery that - remarkably - brought him all the way to Old Trafford; the rollercoaster ride that followed. Here, the guilt, fear, self-loathing are all laid bare in a story fired with hope and determination for the future. It may well be the most candid sports book ever written.Format:Mass Market Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:009949955X
ISBN13:9780099499558
Release Date:May 2007
Publisher:Arrow
Length:432 Pages
Weight:1.10 lbs.
Dimensions:1.3" x 4.3" x 7.4"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Best sports autobiography I've ever read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
As a child who grew up in an Ireland that was being taken over by the wonders of Jack Charlton's Ireland team, McGrath was always a hero of mine. There were always the little hints that all was not well off the field, but on it, he was a legend. This goes into the painful depths of what was behind this amazing footballer and makes you appreciate even more how successful he became. This book gives an amazingly honest insight into the life of one of the greatest Irish sportsmen. A must for anyone who likes to read sports autobiographies.
Back from the Brink
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
This is a riviting account of an extraordinary, complex and successful life which impacted millions. Without any undersatnding how this individual instinctivly lived a life of chasos, triumph and glory, he was a man who was adored by so many. The toast of his native Ireland, Ooh Ah Paul McGrath! an astonisging individual. Enjoy the book which bencmarks one of the great periods in Ireland's maturity as a nation and as a soccer force in the world. Aidan
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