Critical Praise

"The rare quality of this memoir owes much to [Hamilton's] novelistic skills, not least his handling of the child's point of view throughout, with its luminously comprehending attentiveness to adult behavior…the cumulative effect is to elevate an act of scrupulous remembering into a work of art."

——New York Times Book Review

"A fine reminder that there are many ways of being Irish."

——New York Newsday

"The Speckled People stands head and shoulders above the ruck of memoirs pouring out of Ireland….an accomplished work of art and a strange tale brilliantly told."

——Boston Globe

"An astonishing achievement…a landmark in Irish nonfiction…a masterpiece."

——Washington Post