Closing Time : A Memoir

An affecting memoir from one of America's most provocative humorists Over the past two decades, Joe Queenan has established himself as a scourge of everything that is half-baked, half-witted, and halfhearted in American culture. In Closing Time, Queenan turns his sights on a more serious and a more personal topic: his childhood in a Philadelphia housing project in the early 1960s. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Closing Timerecounts Queenan's Irish Catholic upbringing in a family dominated by his erratic, alcoholic father, and his long flight away from the dismal confines of his neighborhood into the greater, wide world. A story about salvation and escape, Closing Timehas at its heart the makings of a classic American autobiography.

Joe Queenan is the author of nine books and a regular contributor to The New York Times and numerous other major publications. He is a frequent guest on network talk shows and has hosted radio programs for the BBC.