This volume is really superb. The translations are of consistently high quality. I particularly enjoyed Jerome Rothenberg's "Suites." Too bad this book is out of print!

When I first came across this book in my library I was so smitten with it I tried to gulp it all down in one swallow. As a poet myself, though, I am still eating and enjoying every bite. Burdened by the beauty of his metaphors it has been a challenge to read him without weeping. Though my only famil- iarity with him is through the translations in this volume, I am Latin enough to feel the intense passion, sorrow and melancholy he seems to have been possessed of in his lifetime. His struggle with himself, his love for his country and its ancient symbolism, his devotion to the Old Songs, his sadness at the death of a friend who was a Bullfgihter, his generous respect for the Gypsies, are all painted with the deep colors of language ... sometimes sweet, sometimes tongue-in-cheek humerous sometimes sardonic, sometimes satirical ... even ironical. But there is a mysticism that illuminates it all ... even his sorrow shines. He is a true wanderer ... he roams his! own world and ours and leaves us all mystified, a little confused, and wondering.. What is his "green" ... what does it, can it, truly, signify? Will anyone ever know? This volume is an accumulation of poems that demonstrates a rare and prodigious talent. His assassination at the hands of his enemies deprives us of more of his great work. This is a luminour opus! It is a shame it is out of print. Every poet, every wanna-be-poet, should read and re-read this book!

This book gives an uplifting account of Christy's battle with adversity. It is very emotional demonstrating hope and the love that everyone can use and learn something from. It is a incredible story of beating the obstacles that stand in our way. Sometimes people think that life is hard and unfair, it makes them want to give up but when you read this book you will come to realize; this is a story about a boy afflicted by cerebral palsy who's had a hard life but yet he still doesn't give up, he had to succeed and accomplish thigs with only his left foot. I would definitely recommend this book. It was written from the heart and shows the world through the eyes of a innocent person afflicted by cerebral palsy. This book is truly enlightening. After reading My Left Foot, it led me to understand more about what it is like to suffer from cerebral palsy and how hard it is for them to challenge it. Christy's life story gives readers hope about their future. I wouldn't mind reading this book over again.

The autobiograpy by Christy Brown about his life with Cerebral Palsy and the battles he went through,but not alone,was a very interesting look into the world of a person with this disability and how their views on life are different from our own.Being the only kid in the family with this disability was very hard and very frustrating for Christy, as he would often dream of what life would be like with out this dreadful disablity.But life was not always this spiral of depression for Christy he had freedom,which came from his brothers,(who believed Christy to be as normal as themselves),the times spent with his brothers was spent in a cart,which they used to push Christy around in the streets of Dublin,with this method of entertainment Christy was free of the torment of his mind and could now be normal,or at least try to be normal.But Christy still didn't feel complete or normal,Christy was unable to write a letter or even give the answer to the question two plus two,this was the emptiness that Christy had felt for so many years and what he was searching for,Christy wanted to go to school like every other kid did the only problem was the schools could not take him on because they were not made for his type. This is where his mother stepped in,believing Christy was normal and very intelligent she tryed her hardest to school Christy and get him up to the level that other children were at.It started with the assignment of writing the letter 'A' and grew to learning the alphabet and learning to read.With this home-schooling Christy felt normal which is what he wanted to feel and hadn't for such a long-time,he was again free of his mind and would eventually control his feelings of entrapment.

The autobiography by Christy Brown began on June 5,1932,in theRotunda Hospital. Christy's birth was a difficult one as his mothercame very close to death during the birth,even after his birth Christy's mother was sent to recuperate for some weeks and he wasn't baptized until his mother was well enough to bring him to a church. During Christy's birth nothing seemed to go right even after his birth mother found something to be very peculiar about him,as his head would often fall backwards during his feeding time. Christy's life started off very painfully with this unknown and very disturbing disability but his mother believed him to be just as normal as her and set out to prove it. On one afternoon of a "cold,grey December day" Christy,(who was sitting next to his sisters),became very attracted to a yellow piece of chalk and wanted it desperately,the only problem was that his sisters were holding on to the "long,slender stick of vivid yellow". Becoming very agitated Christy,without thinking or knowing exactly what he was doing,grabbed the chalk from his sisters hand with his left foot,Christy,with his mother's assistance,then began to write the letter 'A'. This would prove to be Christy's first time using his left foot and writing the letter 'A',with this momentous occasion Christy could now express himself and not be trapped in his mind of torment and constant put down. Christy would not stop just there,nor would his mother,the next big challenge became the alphabet as this would open up many new worlds for Christy and may have started him on his love for writing. Christy spent many days in the front bedroom of the house trying to learn the ABC's with mother's help and soon mastered the many letters in the alphabet and became uninterested in this mundane way of learning. As Christy was growing older he began to associate with other children through the help of his brothers,as they would push him along the streets of Dublin in a rusty old go-car called 'Henry' and Christy soon forgot about his learning,Christy spent many many happy and unforgettable years in that cart which freed him from the harsh reality of himself,which he would soon come to face. Christy remembers the many times he would spill out of the cart because his friends and brothers would often go at a bend at full speed,but this did not bother Christy because he was free,he no longer had to deal with his thoughts,and I am sure that he would prefer a crash to hearing his merciless mind tear him apart. Christy was happy with this life of taking bends at full speed and crashing to the ground with his friends and brothers,but,unfortunately this would not last long enough.

"My Left Foot" is about a young man, born in 1932 to a Dublin bricklayer, with cerebral palsy who cannot even control his limbs let alone write his own autobiography. He starts off with his childhood: his relatives and doctors are telling his mother that he will amount to nothing; he was a moron. But his mother never gives up on him, for she knew that inside his useless body was a very capable mind. She teaches him to write with his left foot. By the time he's five years old, he knows his whole alphabet! He goes on and tells about his life growing up with twelve other siblings. He speaks of how the startling realization, that he was not like everyone else, changed his life. And he finishes with how he finds inside himself what he had all along. Christy Brown really shows his talent for writing in "My Left Foot". He tells his story without ever being depressing and sulky and there are parts that will just make you laugh out loud, especially when he talks about his first attempts at writing his autobiography. The movie is also great; Daniel Day-Lewis, in his Oscar winning role, is excellent. It gave the book the recognition it deserved as being a great piece of classic literature

The book "My Left Foot", was one of the best books I have read. It tells the life story of Christy Brown and how he still lived his life while his little body was twisted with a disease. I found it very touching at times and it made me happy to when he would over come bumps in his life. When he first made the letter "A" I was smiling from ear to ear.

I would recommend this book to for anyone to read, especially to a mother with a disabled child. It really proves that no matter who you are, you can do anything you put your mind to.

I can't wait to see the movie!

I found Christy Brown's My Left Foot to be a fascinating read. It is the story of Christy's life and all the struggles he must overcome. Despite his disabilities, he was a multi-published author and an accomplished artist. He manages to do all these tasks with the use of his left foot.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to a parent of a disabled child. The story gives hope and inspiration. Being the mother of a child with cerebral palsy myself, I could really relate to the events in the novel.

Christy Brown gives an intricately etched picture of the human spirit that cannot be beaten, smashed, drunk, drowned, maimed, or murdered out of defiant existence. The story is of a family living on the edge of absolute poverty in a Dublin slum, the tale of an unending stream of kids being born to a worn-ragged mother and an abusive, drunken father, through the eyes of a son made mute and unable to move on his own by an un-named crippling condition (cerebral palsy we are to assume, Brown's affliction). The tale is not a navel-gazing excercise in simpering self-pity and psychoanalytic blame-casting, as is the standard fare today, but a book that captures the shocking stupidity, humor, farcical violence, and unshakeable love of the family's existence, in detail unsurpassed by anthing else that I've read. And that's just one level of many by which one can enjoy this book

This novel is dense with overwrought imagery and shallow characterization. This, however, is a true period piece and strongly evokes the social ambience of it's time. It's too contrived and precious to be an easy read, but for anyone who adores Christy Brown's work (as do I!) this is an important part of your collection.

At first you are taken in by the beautiful imagery, the way in which Christy Brown explains everything. You are enraptured.

Then you hit page 100 and you get thoroughly sick of people who don't talk like real people and vivid descriptions of every single little thing like its a Walt Whitman poem.

A writer travels to America to work on his second book and there he hooks up with a photographer, but since he's so full of self-loathing and doubt he can't communicate with her. There's also another character who is his friend who tries to control him every step of the way. He's also supposed to be in love with her, but she's such a harpie, you wonder why he is even talking to her, much less being in love.

Ultimately this book is like a Harper's Magazine article - a lot of verbage that ultimately fails to cover up the lack of interest in the plot, character or style. (There's even a character who kind of swears and is almost interesting, but exits stage left just as soon as you suspect that the book might turn interesting.)