Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

Reared on "warm words, serried words, glittering poetic, harsh, and even blasphemous words," McCourt has storytelling in his blood. In this life-affirming recording he carries on a vocal tradition learned at the knees of family and friends as they "spun out the silver-gold yarns and, by sheer eloquence, made our miserable surroundings disappear."

From his arrival in America wearing patched clothes and broken boots, McCourt swore he'd fight before ever tasting the bitterness of poverty again. In this heartfelt memoir he pulls no punches and carries the listener along as he climbs up through every level of society: from the flop houses of Calcutta to the swank poolside cabanas of Beverly Hills. A celebrity barkeep, society darling, Hollywood striver, and world-class drinker, McCourt has lived a life of outsized adventure. In A Monk Swimming, he shares each hard-knock lesson in the passionate cadence of his uniquely Irish voice. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney