Pete McCarthy gave himself a very enviable task when he set out to write his first best-seller "McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in the West of Ireland": visit every McCarthy's Pub you ever came across in Ireland. Raised in England, but with a mother from West Cork, McCarthy expands his horizons in "The Road to McCarthy." He visits McCarthy's pubs - and villages, and enclaves and even an Alaskan town with a population of 18 - all over the world. What sounds so whimsical nevertheless manages to subtly explore the roots of family names in general, and ethnicity in general - in McCarthy's case, mixed Irish. (The book is dedicated to the "West Cork McCarthys, wherever they may be.") McCarthy tracks down a fellow McCarthy in Morocco, and visits Tasmania, the penal colony where so many Irish were sent by the British government. And he puts a new spin on familiar turf, such as the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Always funny, often inebriated, sometimes bordering on obscene, Pete McCarthy nevertheless has found quite a niche. We can only wonder what he will do for a follow-up. McCarthy on the moon, perhaps. ($25.95 / 384 pages / Fourth Estate-Harper Collins)
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