Looking for Jimmy

'Paddy' - the caricature of the heavy-drinking, hard brawling Irishman born in Vaudeville acts and nativist cartoons - remains, unfortunately, a vivid feature of the American and British national imagination. But as this stereotype fades into the past, what image does America have of the millions of Irish-Catholic immigrants who have played such a central role in its history? In this collection of writings, Peter Quinn explores his own Irish-American roots, alongside the lives of the hundreds of thousands of nameless immigrants that struggled alongside his own ancestors. In Quinn's hands, 'Paddy' gives way to an image of 'Jimmy' - an archetypal Irish-American (a composite of Jimmy Cagney and Jimmy Walker) who comes to life as the fast-talking, tough-yet-refined urban American who redefined American politics, street culture, religion, and moral imagination. Addressing subjects ranging from the impact of decades of immigration on Western Ireland to the long legacy of Irish-American Archbishop John Hughes, Quinn's vibrant prose weaves together the story of a people that has made an immeasurable contribution to American history.

ISBN 0715636693   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780715636695 (What's this?)   Pages 320 Publisher Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd   Published in London Imprint Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd   Height (mm) 240 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 150 Publication date 22 Mar 2007   Academic level General DEWEY 813.54

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