A Drink with Shane MacGowan

Funny, honest, brilliant and opinionated, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is the highly-acclaimed memoir of a true music icon.'One of the freshest, most original biographies I've ever read' - Lynne Barber, Observer'His candour, coupled with an acerbic wit, makes him an ideal guide through an unmistakably colourful life' - Time OutShane MacGowan was an intensely talented songwriter whose band, The Pogues, merged punk with Irish folk music to create a sound uniquely their own. An anarchic hellraiser with the soul of a poet, he is forever associated with Christmas after the chart-topping success of 'Fairytale of New York', his duet with Kirsty McColl.He grew up on a small farm in Tipperary, won a scholarship to Westminster, was rapidly expelled, became a rent boy, then a central figure of punk and the hugely influential star of The Pogues - until his bandmates got so fed up of his behaviour they kicked him out for a time. MacGowan's music, innovative and powerful, is as distinctive as his chaotic, breakdown-scarred, drug and alcohol-fuelled lifestyle.Written with his girlfriend (and later wife) Victoria Mary Clarke, A Drink With Shane MacGowan is a joyful celebration of a charming musician with a remarkable perspective on the world.'An enormously vivid and descriptive picture of his life and dramatic times' - Irish Times'This endearing memoir . . . is Irish rock distilled' - Sunday Times

Acknowledgements - i: Acknowledgements Section - ii: Forewords Unit - Act One: A rugged Irish cottage, night. Unit - Act Two: Filthy McNasty's Whisky Café, Islington, London, night. Section - iii: Interval Unit - Act Three: Act Three Chapter - Scene One: Plethora restaurant, Islington, London, early winter evening. Chapter - Scene Two: A black taxi, London, night. Section - iv: Refreshments Unit - Act Four: Luxurious house in Hampstead, London, early winter morning. Unit - Act Five: Lone tour bus, desolate highway, USA, day. Unit - Act Six: First-class cabin, transatlantic aircraft, evening. Airport lounge. Unit - Act Seven: Shannon Airport, Ireland, morning. Unit - Act Eight: A rugged Irish cottage, night.