A memoir from one of Ireland's most distinguished poets. Richard Murphy writes with affectionate lack of sentiment about the Protestant gentry from which he comes. The literary milieu in London, Dublin, and New York are described with serenely devastating honesty. Here too are disturbing memories of discrimination against Irish Travelers, and of extreme violence in Sri Lanka. The Kick is the record of a lifetime's engagement with the fracturing tensions of personal life and with the more obviously violent legacies of Anglo-Irish history.
A fine, considered and fascinating memoir of a life lived as close to the full as possible
~John Banville, New York Review of Books
A lively and even brave account of a rich and complicated life.
~John Montague, Irish Times
His wonderful eye for fabric shines out especially when he quotes fragments from his notebooks.
~Ruth Padel, Literary Review
Murphy writes with dignity and candour
~Karl Miller, Spectator
By turns funny, quirky and lyrical
~Ciaran Carson, Guardian
A superb insight into social transformation of post-imperial England and post-colonial Ireland in the middle of the last century- amusing and haunting
~Declan Kiberd, The Irish Times
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