Walking with Ghosts

A Memoir

By: Gabriel Byrne

Narrated by: Gabriel Byrne

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

This audiobook is exquisitely and eloquently read by the author, Gabriel Byrne.

Walking with Ghosts is the stunningly evocative memoir by Irish actor and Hollywood star, Gabriel Byrne.

'Dreamy, lyrical and utterly unvarnished' – Colm Tóibín

As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working-class parents and the eldest of six children, he harboured a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and a factory labourer to get by. In his spare time he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of ’60s Ireland.

He revelled in the theatre and poetry of Dublin’s streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, those who spin a yarn with acuity and wit. It was a friend who suggested Byrne join an amateur drama group, a decision that would change his life forever and launch him on an extraordinary forty-year career in film and theatre. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame.

Walking with Ghosts is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking as well as a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes that ultimately shape our destinies.

‘Make no mistake about it: this is a masterpiece . . . poetic, moving and very funny’ – Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin

©2020 Gabriel Byrne (P)2020 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

The wonder of this memoir is its unembellished truth. It is written by a man whose amazing story is the stuff of literature (Edna O'Brien)

The allure of Gabriel Byrne's memoir is that it persuasively humanizes what it is to be a big deal movie star. Byrne is wonderfully without cant or bluster or phony humility. Instead he leads with felicity, candor, humor and empathy. In the end, he seems to be somebody you'd be glad to know (Richard Ford)

A wry and warm, swirling poetic reverie of a memoir (Colin Barrett)

A joy of a book - full of heart and humour, beautifully told (Sinéad Gleeson)

The writing is so vivid it’s as if we are by Gabriel Byrne’s shoulder through the sorrowful times and the joyous moments. He weaves an intimate and absorbing tapestry of the poignant and the funny (Kirsty Wark)

A working-class family memoir as well as a meditation on fame and its discontents (Sena O'Hagan)

Walking with Ghosts is exquisite. This book feels like the culmination of a long literary career and not the debut of a famous actor. Byrne makes himself fully vulnerable while in total command of language and form. There is great truth and great beauty in this close examination of a life and the passage of time. I’ve never read a memoir so raw and honest and literary and absolutely, staggeringly brilliant (Lily King)

Mercurial, ferociously honest and moving . . . A poignant symphony of memories and dreams, longing and loss, in a search for the immigrants most elusive prize, home (Karl Geary, author of Montpelier)

A poetic journey into those secret realms of memory which dominate our lives, but are rarely spoken about. By revealing himself with such courage, compassion, and exquisite poise, Gabriel Byrne gives readers that rare gift of being able to see themselves in the feelings of another person. This book is more than a memoir—it’s a mirror that reflects the deepest parts of us in exile (Simon Van Booy)

Intense

It is almost unbearable listening to Gabriel Byrne reading his memoir Walking With Ghosts. It is so intense and moody and heartbreaking, hilarious, understated, poetic and passionate. I have to take breaks before diving back under the hypnotic spell of it. I was in love with him before but now I want to marry him and live in a windswept cottage in Connemara, listening to him talk.

Excellent, really enjoyed this book

Loved the flow and range in this memoir, hope to see more from Gabriel in the future. He is a great storyteller.

wonderful memoir.

The narration -performance by the writer gives another dimension to this wonderful, poetic and evocative memoir.