A Furious Devotion

The Life of Shane MacGowan

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About this listen

Punk protagonist, legendary drinker, Irish musical icon. The complete and extraordinary journey of the Pogues' notorious front man from outcast to national treasure has never been told - until now.

A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan vividly recounts the experiences that shaped the greatest songwriter of his generation: the formative trips to his mother's homestead in Tipperary, the explosion of punk that changed his life, and the drink and drugs that nearly ended it.

As well as exclusive interviews with Shane himself, author Richard Balls has secured contributions from his wife and family and people who have never spoken publicly about Shane before: close associates, former girlfriends, and the English teacher who first spotted his literary gift. Nick Cave, Aidan Gillen, Cillian Murphy, Christy Moore, Sinead O'Connor, and Dermot O'Leary are on the rollcall of those paying tribute to the gifted songwriter and poet.

Richard BallsDan CalleyTantor Audio

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A fantastic book but a truly awful narration. The narrator continuously mispronounces names and places throughout the book. The book deserves to be read by someone with even a passing familiarity with The Pogues or with normal place names in Ireland or just people’s names in general. The shambolic effort to pronounce so many words such as Sally MacLennane, Howth, Deirdre, O’Mahony, Cillian, Ranelagh, Cuchulainn, Tralee, Castlebar etc… completely detracts from the story and the “begorrah” Irish accent put on throughout the book was an aural reminder of old Punch cartoons. Listening to an English accent making a hames of both the Irish accent and pronunciations has similar racial undertones as a white man dressing up as a “black face” character. For years Irish people would be portrayed on British TV and radio as the “thick Paddy” and would be derided, I don’t think that this was the aim of the production company, or of the narrator, but if this story was set in India or Pakistan would the narration be different? It’s obvious that the narrator didn’t put an ounce of research into the book which takes from the book’s credibility. Incredibly disappointing but the book is still a magnificent read.