BARRY CALLAGHAN
man of letters
Barrelhouse Kings
McArthur & Company, 1998
BARRELHOUSE KINGS is the unique story of two Canadian writers, each well-known in his own way: Morley Callaghan and his son, Barry Callaghan. It is a stunningly written recollection of the world in which Barry Callaghan grew up—the world that was Morley’s milieu as a writer and became Barry’s as their lives dovetailed. Peopled with many unforgettable characters, this is an autobiography that will stand the test of time.
“Book XIII is more of the same - the wild, almost liturgical last hurrah and wake of a father, rendered with heart and grief and narrative circumstance. Nobody should lose a loved one. But we should all have such a noble skirl of words to mark the passing. As one who resists any writing with palpable designs on me, I can report that I choke up every time I re-read the closing pages of Barrelhouse Kings. In both human and technical terms, it is a triumph of storytelling. It calls to mind other works where the old order passes, and the survivors are left to recreate the great tradition.” - Dennis Lee
