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Short Synopsis
A deeply funny and affecting memoir about a great escape from a childhood of poverty.

Full Synopsis
Joe Queenan's acerbic riffs on movies, sports, books, politics, and many of the least forgivable phenomena of pop culture have made him one of the most popular humorists and commentators of our time. In Closing Time, Queenan turns his sights on a more serious and personal topic: his childhood in a Philadelphia housing project in the early 1960s. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Closing Time recounts Queenan's Irish Catholic upbringing in a family dominated by his erratic father, a violent yet oddly charming emotional terrorist whose alcoholism fuels a limitless torrent of self-pity, railing, destruction, and late-night chats with the Lord Himself. With the help of a series of mentors and surrogate fathers, and armed with his own furious love of books and music, Joe begins the long flight away from the dismal confines of his neighborhood—with a brief misbegotten stop at a seminary—and into the wider world. Queenan's unforgettable account of the damage done to children by parents without futures and of the grace children find to move beyond these experiences will appeal to fans of Augusten Burroughs and Mary Karr, and will take its place as an autobiography in the classic American tradition.

"An ambitious memoir.... Optimally engrossing, thanks to Queenan's gift for storytelling and acidic humor." ---The Philadelphia Inquirer

"[Queenan] evokes the ludicrous nature of his upbringing while providing humor few others could bring to such dark material." ---Booklist

"Truly daring" ---San Francisco Chronicle

"Somber and funny.... Unsentimental and brutally honest, Queenan's memoir captures the pathos of growing up in a difficult family and somehow getting beyond it." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Close to home and heart, this portrait of the artist shows Queenan at the top of his form---his best yet." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"A fine piece of work in every respect: self-exploratory but never self-absorbed, painful and funny." ---The Washington Post
New York Times Bestseller

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

New York Times Bestseller

Audiofile Bestseller

Publishers Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

New York Times Bestseller

Closing Time

A Memoir

Author Joe Queenan

Narrated by Johnny Heller

Publication date Jun 16, 2009

Running time 13 hrs

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