Pete McCarthy established one cardinal rule of travel in hisbestselling debut, McCarthy's Bar : "Never pass a bar withyour name on it." In this equally wry and insightful follow-up,his characteristic good humor, curiosity, and thirst for adventuretake him on a fantastic jaunt around the world in search of hisIrish roots -- from Morocco, where he tracks down the unlikelychief of the McCarthy clan, to New York, and finally to remote Mc-Carthy, Alaska. The Road to McCarthy is a quixotic and anything-but-typical Irish odyssey that confirms Pete McCarthy's status asone of our funniest and most incisive writers. “With self-deprecating wit and a sly sense of the absurd, [McCarthy] makes even the most mundane experience entertaining.” - Booklist “Unfailingly sharp, good-humored and offbeat: sure to please Celtophiles of every greenish hue.” - Kirkus Reviews “The funniest book I’ve read this year.” - The Independent (UK) “McCarthy is a worthy addition to the ranks of P.J. O’Rourke, Bill Bryson and Peter Mayle.” - Publishers Weekly “A travelogue that’s as hilariously gratifying as it is entertaining.” - Entertainment Weekly “An entertaining romp [and] a meditation on Ireland today.” - Conde Nast Traveler “Hilarious...If McCarthy isn’t telling a fabulous yarn himself, he’s quoting someone who is.” - Washington Post “McCarthy is stitch. Move over, Bill Bryson. You’ve finally met your match.” - Chicago Tribune “Highly engaging…a very funny book.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review “Engaging… [McCarthy’s] curiosity is infectious and there’s plenty to amuse.” - St Petersburg Times “A lively, lusty quest. McCarthy travels like a Renaissance explorer with a film director’s lens.” - Publishers Weekly “Humorous and insightful…a delightful memoir.” - Library Journal “Hilarious, sentimental, surprising and revealing.” - Dallas Morning News “Fans of Bill Bryson will enjoy reading McCarthy’s droll narrative of his rediscovery of his family’s roots in Ireland.”- - Library Journal “An engaging, evocative book.” - Mail on Sunday “A volume [that] cannot fail to impress even the most world-weary traveller.” - Books Magazine “A hugely enjoyable book, heartfelt, self-aware and very funny ...an intelligent exploration of what it means to be Irish.” - Kilkenny People “A funny and believable travelogue.” - London Times Pete McCarthy established one cardinal rule of travel in hisbestselling debut, McCarthy's Bar : "Never pass a bar withyour name on it." In this equally wry and insightful follow-up,his characteristic good humor, curiosity, and thirst for adventuretake him on a fantastic jaunt around the world in search of hisIrish roots -- from Morocco, where he tracks down the unlikelychief of the McCarthy clan, to New York, and finally to remote Mc-Carthy, Alaska. The Road to McCarthy is a quixotic and anything-but-typical Irish odyssey that confirms Pete McCarthy's status asone of our funniest and most incisive writers. Pete McCarthy was born to an Irish mother and an English father. He is a hugely popular British television personality and the author of the critically acclaimed international bestseller McCarthy's Bar . He is also a recent winner of the British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year Award and the Irish Post Award for Literature. The Road to McCarthy Around the World in Search of Ireland By McCarthy, Pete Perennial ISBN: 0007162138 Chapter One Attack of the Killer Macaques It had seemed a romantic idea to arrive in the port of Tangier, andthe continent of Africa, by sea; but the painfully early hour of my flight toGibraltar, where I will catch the ferry to Morocco, has already turned romancesour. An alarm clock ringing at four in the morning in the middle ofan English winter is a cruel and unnatural thing. The fear of getting up soearly pollutes my sleep, filling it with nervous, guilty, premature awakenings,as well as nightmares of having overslept and missed the taxi, the flightand the rest of my life. It's frosty and still dark as we board the plane at a shopping mall withan overcrowded airport attached somewhere in Sussex. The young man inthe seat next to me is Estonian, like his friend across the aisle. When breakfastis served he orders two quarter-bottles of red wine from a surprisedstewardess and knocks them back at high speed with his sausage, bacon,mushrooms and powdered egg. Then he eats the muesli and yogurt. It's soearly my brain isn't working properly, and I'm struggling to decipher themeaning of such extreme behavior. The Estonians are accompanied by a hearty English business type in aWinnie-the-Pooh-on-a-balloon tie who is keen to show that he's in charge.He keeps telling the Estonians very boring things in a loud, slow voice withall definite and indefinite articles removed, like a whisky trader talking to injunsabout heap powerful thundersticks. When the stewardess comes tocollect the breakfast debris my Estonian orders a gin and tonic to wash thewine down, while his friend o