An Irish-American family comes to life through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy in this debut novel by actor-filmmaker Ed Burns.
Immigrants and storytellers, lilting voices and Long Island moxie are all part of this colorful Irish-Catholic community in 1970s New York.
Our twelve-year-old narrator, an aspiring writer, is at a wake. He takes in the death of his beloved grandfather, Pop, a larger-than-life figure. The overflowing crowd — a sign of a life well lived — comprises sandhogs in their muddy work boots, Irish grandmothers in black dresses, cops in uniform, members of the family deep in mourning. He watches it all, not yet realizing how this Irish American world defines who he is and who he will become. His older brother Tommy has no patience for rules and domesticities, his father is emotionally elsewhere. This boy knows he’s the best thing his mother's got, though her sadness envelops them both.
In
A Kid from Marlboro Road, past and present intermingle as family stories are told and retold. The narrative careens between the prior generation’s colorful sojourns in the Bronx and Hell’s Kitchen and the softer world of Gibson, the town on Long Island where they live now. There are scenes in the Rockaways, at Belmont racetrack, and in Montauk.
Edward Burns’s buoyant first novel is a bildungsroman. Out of one boy’s story a collective warmth emerges, a certain kind of American tale, raucous and joyous.
With eight pages of photographs of some of the people and historical locations that inspired characters and scenes in the novel.
Quote: Edward Burns is known for his work as an actor and filmmaker, and now he’s debuting his novel-writing talent in A Kid from Marlboro Road.
Set in the 1970s, A Kid from Marlboro Road follows an Irish-American family living on Long Island — elements inspired by Burns’s own childhood. This coming-of-age tale explores the impacts of family history, the growing independence in early adolescence, death and grief, and dynamic family relationships.
Burns tells the story through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy, Kneeney, who opens the tale at the wake of his beloved grandfather, Pop. The wake’s overflowing crowd of characters include sandhogs in their muddy work boots, elderly Irish women in black dresses, and cops in uniform.
Kneeney, an aspiring writer, weaves together stories about these characters and his immediate family: his older brother Tommy has no patience for rules and domesticities, and his father is emotionally elsewhere. His mother struggles with her own sadness, which threatens to envelop both her and Kneeney. Throughout Burns’s novel, Kneeney learns more about his family history while also experiencing more losses and a deepening understanding of the world around him.
Burns brings to life stories of characters based on his own childhood, portrayals of Irish-Americans who have inspired some of his films, and now, on the page.
Born in Woodside, Queens and raised on Long Island, Edward Burns has made fourteen feature films as writer-director-actor and starred in many films, including Saving Private Ryan. Burns’ first film, The Brothers McMullen, premiered in competition at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury prize. The film also won “Best First Feature” at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. In 2015, he published Independent Ed, an inside look at his two decades as a pioneer in independent filmmaking. A Kid from Marlboro Road is his first novel, based on his childhood memories and the Irish American communities of the Bronx and Long Island.
