Things You Get for Free

Rich with charm and wisdom, this travelogue/memoir by a priest who takes his indomitable mother on the European honeymoon she and her late husband never got around to taking is filled with musings on their hilarious travels and the historical figures who dot their voyage.

Summary

Things You Get for Free is a travelogue rich with charm and wisdom and sparkling with its author's singular wit. As a priest, Michael McGirr decides to take his charming and inimitable mum on the honeymoon she and her late husband never got around to having. He uses his six-week vacation to take her on a tour of Europe. Between meditating on their hilarious and illuminating travels and on the historical figures who dot their voyage -- everyone from Hemingway to Michelangelo to the quietly heroic people who inspire Michael's special brand of faith -- McGirr plunges deep into his family history, unearthing sickness and instability but also moments of great love and perseverance. Things You Get for Free is a deeply moving spiritual and intellectual journey, proving the truth behind a mother's favorite saying: "I know more than you think I do."

Product details

• Authors: Michael McGirr
• Publisher: Grove Atlantic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.03.2003
• EAN: 9780802140005
• ISBN: 978-0-8021-4000-5
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 141 mm x 213 mm x 21 mm
• Weight: 345 g
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Europe, RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic, TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues, Travel writing, Relating to Christian people & groups, c 2000 to c 2009, CULTURAL HERITAGE / Italian, honeymoon;vacation;Jesuit;priest;family;faith