Never Pass a Bar That Has Your Name On It

[commonpeople1]

Pete McCarthy, McCarthy's Bar, 2002
This is a humorous - at times hilarious/laugh-out-loud funny/need to quote to the nearest person - travel book by an English man exploring his family ties to Ireland. Pete McCarthy travels across Ireland in the hopes of answering the question: "do I belong here?" Along the way, he paints the picture of a country that has changed due to a rapid economic boom - a place where the old and the new sit side-by-side in what seems to be a very tenuous balance.

Pete believes that one should always stop and have a drink in a pub that bears one's name. Since McCarthy is a popular surname in Ireland, he gets plenty of chances to sip the devil's brew while getting to know the local folk. This is, I suppose, how travel books should be written (if you discount the constant potshots at American and German tourists).