Fork in the Road

by Denis Hamill

Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture From Academy Award®­winning Director Barry Levinson
With this stunning literary portrait of ill-fated love played out amid the romantic squalor and violent underpinnings of contemporary Dublin and New York, Denis Hamill has crafted a work of greater resonance than anything he has yet written.
When Colin Coyne, a young American filmmaker seeking aesthetic inspiration in Ireland, catches a pickpocket red-handed in a hotel pub, all it takes is one look into her dazzling eyes for him to fall hard. Purely for the sake of research -- or so he tells himself -- he hurtles headlong into the bewitching world of Gina Furey, a stunningly beautiful, iron-willed denizen of Dublin's gypsy criminal underground. Before he knows what's happening, he finds himself a star player in a Pygmalion-like relationship rich with dramatic film the earnest Yankee auteur woos and wins the dangerous gypsy thief. But the tenuous lines separating art and reality soon dissolve and the neatly linear screenplay unfolding inside Colin's head is eclipsed by the brutal chaos and unpredictability of true life.
By turns devastating and hopeful, bittersweet and hilarious, Fork in The Road is both a tragic love story and the riveting drama of one man's heartbreaking journey from exhilaration to desolation.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Novels, Ireland

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Asghar Abbas]

Dublin and New York, with Los Angeles thrown in for good measure. A clash of cultures of sorts; fun-packed, make you laugh out loud hilarity, whilst being equally emotionally gripping. Considering my penchant for Irish stories or stories set in or about Ireland, this was perfect.

Competent, reliable, writing that charms you.

[Jeffrey]

I’ve thought quite a bit about how to rate this novel since finishing it. I don’t like to give 2 or less stars to any book unless it does something to really piss me off, such as make me toil through hundreds of pages only to hand me a terrible conclusion or a cliché and completely predictable ending. Fork In the Road did a little bit of everything it possibly could to aggravate me to no end, which is a shame because the first 250 or so pages were pretty great.

We start with a Colin Coyne, a recent Irish-American NYU film school grad whose mom just died and left him some cash to pursue his dreams. Colin packs up and heads to Dublin to scout out film locations, characters and ideas for an Irish love story he’s writing, and from there he meets the highly troubled but devastatingly beautiful gypsy thief Gina Furey, who will immediately become his obsession and muse. (All my prior knowledge of Irish gyppos and their caravan living lifestyle comes from the Guy Ritchie film Snatch where Brad Pitt and crew fantastically portray the grimy and violent lifestyle, and seeing that film (like 10 times!!) actually helped me better paint a portrait of Gina and her crazy ass family) So now we have what sounds like a great set up for the never gets old story of “good guy meets bad girl, falls head over, loses girl, then gets girl back” right? Well, the second half of the story is where the problems start.

I suppose it’s great that the author wanted to try to avoid the trappings of a cliché romance but instead everyone was just completely abhorrent or a completely idiotic human being. Scene after scene began to either leave me wracked with anxiety, totally frustrated, or just plain bored. As pages turned I only grew to hate everyone within completely and by the ending I could care less about what happened to anyone, especially Gina, and while the conclusion tried to pull at my heartstrings all it did was simply make be breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over.

Alexander Payne will soon be adapting and filming this and although I was disappointed with the book I do feel with some major editing it could be a great movie that I’ll run to the theatre to see and hopefully witness some mischievous pikeys yelling, cursing, picking pockets and swilling pints of Guinness.

[Peri]

I found the book to be at first engaging, at times annoying, and ultimately redeemed by the charm of its protagonist. The idea of spinning a story based on a movie about the life of Colin Coyne's alter ego Kieran was initially charming, but as the action became more chaotic and far fetched, I found it harder and harder to believe that the real-life Colin would continue to follow Kieran's path.

As the saga continued to unfold, it became intriguing to watch how Colin would eventually handle things. I can't say more without spoiling anything.

I did enjoy learning about the culture of the Travelers in Ireland.

[Doreen Kelleher]

Interesting story line centering on the Irish "Tinkers". The traveller culture interests me and is well explored in this fiction. The idea of writer versus character is fleshed out too. Passion, love, loss and family. At first I could not engage with the writing but I kept on and became invested in the characters and the story. Not a must read, but a nice way to pass a few hours.

[Jeanne]

A Irish boy from Queens falls for an Irish girl, a Tinker, whose life "inspires" the guy's movie script. He gets the girl pregnant and ends up having to deal with her extended family who show the truth of the saying "give them an inch and they'll take a mile". He finally forces the issue.

The ending's a cop-out, since the girl ends up getting killed after picking the wrong pocket. He gets custody of his kids and life seems like it'll return to normal.

[Sharon]

I read this in almost one sitting. I could not believe how it sucked me in. Having witnessed the "traveler" culture on a number of counties in eastern and Western Europe it was interesting to read more about it. There is an aspect that seemed a little extreme but I absorbed it as a work of fiction. Great read. Interesting to see the varied reviews. I would probably rate it a 4.5 just for the fun factor.

[Melissa]

The only reason I didn't give this book 4 stars is because there is some content that might offend some friends of mine. The language isn't the best and there is one or two steamy sex scenes, but other than that, I LOVED THIS BOOK. I could not put it down. I was so immersed in it and had to know what happened and I never would have guessed the end of the book. If you don't get offended easily, I would definitely recommend this book.

[Jan]

This book went on at least 150 pages beyond my interest or tolerance, yet I finished it to see how it ended. If I weren't retired, I'd want all that time back. Although some of the 'study' of the travelers was interesting, it left a bad taste, as listening to bigots describe the habits of a minority culture. Whether the author meant this to be the case or not, it's how it felt.
If there hadn't been children to root for, I would have given up without finishing it.

[Amanda Hagan]

I read this book about a year ago, but what stands out most to me is remembering going through a spiral of emotions--I laughed, cried, and I even got angry at certain points. It gave insight to some of the culture Ireland has and the many trials life hands out. People say this often, but I'm going to go ahead and say it..."A MUST READ!"

[Patricia O'Sullivan]

I loved this novel. The plot was so unpredictable - I never would have imagined from the opening chapter how the story unfolds. I liked learning about the travelers in Dublin. However, my favorite aspect of the novel is Colin's growth as an irresponsible and starry-eyed young man to a father who's sole purpose is to keep his children safe.

[Melody Lee]

Very good book! I loved the insight into the Irish Gypsy culture as well as the side story of the struggling fil maker. Only ting negative I can say about this book is the main character. He was such an egotistical douche bag. I have never read a book with a more unlikable main character. Still a good book, I'm glad i stuck it out.

[Colleen]

It took me a couple of months to finish this 477 page book. The story was so silly at times I had to put it down, Yet I wanted to know the final outcome, but it so wasn't worth it. Did understand the language used but it couldn't have reflected any worse on the Irish culture. Overall I couldn't recommend it to anyone in my reading circle.

[Steven Parker]

I really liked this book. It really spoke to me when I was living in NYC I bought it and read it in three days on the subway. It was a bit candy for my brain but I enjoyed the sugar buzz so much I would say it is a must read for those interested in Tinker culture in Ireland.

[Peg]

Disturbing, intriguing and painful glimpse of the Traveler culture in Ireland. The language is so bad I wondered why I was continuing to read. But the plot was so gripping that I had to see how it came out.

[Diane Cox]

All the way until the end I kept wondering why I was reading this book. Then I decided it was meant to help me understand my own 'fecked up' family members and that they will never change. It's sad to note that huma n nature trumps all societal efforts to improve

[Stephanie Wagner]

This was a fun read and fairly fast-paced after a while. I found it a little hard to get behind the main character which made parts of it frustrating, but it was overall enjoyable. A great read for anyone familiar with the streets of Dublin.

[Linda Brungardt]

Colin goes to Ireland to do research for a film and gets robbed by a "traveler" named Gina. They end up in a relationship with a child on the way. When he brings her to the USA, she destroys his life and damages his career. He has to make decisions.

[Margaret]

Unflattering look at Irish gypsies through American eyes.

[Emily Boerner]

Hysterical. Rocked me given I'm half Irish. And I was perplexed by such a f'd-up subculture. Annoyed me too... the author outed the bottom of the celtic barrel.

[Ruth]

Absolutely Loved this book! One of my Favorites!

[Dianne]

This is probably the best book I have ever read!!

[C]

Very interesting point of view

[Ciocido23]

Paints a picture of Irish culture from a different perspective than I had ever been aware of. Interesting read.

[Judy Spare]

I didn't actually read this book. I started it but didn't like it.

[Pete Dematteo]

similar to having a shot of gin throughout the ride.

[Amy]

Wow.

[Christie Ljunggren]

I want my time back from reading that. Main character is a wimp and it took the whole book to grow a pair. Sad because it had potential.

[Barbara]

Annoying.