The Black Pool: A Memoir of Forgetting
May 2025 · Hachette UK
5.0star
1 reviewreport
Ebook
256
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About this ebook
'An unforgettable, freewheeling masterclass'
Michael Magee, Nero Book Award-winning author of Close to Home
'Electric... It's a breath of fresh air, in a world of packaged and marketed versions of ourselves, to see raw pain and perseverance'
Daily Mirror
'Funny, nerve-wracking and utterly compelling'
Colin Barrett, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Wild Houses
'Extraordinary... A writer with a rare gift. I feel changed by it'
Belinda McKeon, author of Solace
'I was floored by the power and beauty of this book'
Donal Ryan, author of The Queen of Dirt Island
'A reading experience of the highest order'
Wendy Erskine, author of Dance Move
'Extraordinary'
Lisa McInerney, Women's Prize for Fiction-winning author of The Glorious Heresies
A raw and powerful memoir of addiction and recovery, across three continents and multiple drugs, from early childhood through adulthood.
Following an obsessive mind trying (and failing) to find relief, The Black Pool is a gripping thrill-ride through violent, chaotic underworlds. Tracing the roots of an illness through the failures of youth and adolescence and finally back to childhood, it's about all the wrong places where addicts look for transcendence - from work, to relationships, to writing, to anger.
It shows what happens when everything falls apart. It shows us rock bottom and the start of the journey to recovery from there. It's a memoir shot full of holes and shocking clarities. And towards the end, it achieves something like serenity - something like recovery.
'Raw and powerful' Irish Times, Books to look out for in 2025
'A vibrant, darkly humorous writer' Irish Independent, Non-fiction highlights for 2025
'A gripping and personal story of addiction' Irish Examiner, 2025 Books to Read
'Unflinchingly honest, heart-wrenching and life-affirming' RTÉ, 10 books we're looking forward to reading in 2025
Michael Magee, Nero Book Award-winning author of Close to Home
'Electric... It's a breath of fresh air, in a world of packaged and marketed versions of ourselves, to see raw pain and perseverance'
Daily Mirror
'Funny, nerve-wracking and utterly compelling'
Colin Barrett, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Wild Houses
'Extraordinary... A writer with a rare gift. I feel changed by it'
Belinda McKeon, author of Solace
'I was floored by the power and beauty of this book'
Donal Ryan, author of The Queen of Dirt Island
'A reading experience of the highest order'
Wendy Erskine, author of Dance Move
'Extraordinary'
Lisa McInerney, Women's Prize for Fiction-winning author of The Glorious Heresies
A raw and powerful memoir of addiction and recovery, across three continents and multiple drugs, from early childhood through adulthood.
Following an obsessive mind trying (and failing) to find relief, The Black Pool is a gripping thrill-ride through violent, chaotic underworlds. Tracing the roots of an illness through the failures of youth and adolescence and finally back to childhood, it's about all the wrong places where addicts look for transcendence - from work, to relationships, to writing, to anger.
It shows what happens when everything falls apart. It shows us rock bottom and the start of the journey to recovery from there. It's a memoir shot full of holes and shocking clarities. And towards the end, it achieves something like serenity - something like recovery.
'Raw and powerful' Irish Times, Books to look out for in 2025
'A vibrant, darkly humorous writer' Irish Independent, Non-fiction highlights for 2025
'A gripping and personal story of addiction' Irish Examiner, 2025 Books to Read
'Unflinchingly honest, heart-wrenching and life-affirming' RTÉ, 10 books we're looking forward to reading in 2025
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
María Belén Verdugo
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June 28, 2025
The Black Pool broke my heart and wrenched out things I thought I had buried long time ago. Tim MacGabhann writes like he’s confessing with no one listening. There is beauty, yes, but also shame, guilt, desire, and ruin. It’s brutally intimate. Reading it feels like watching someone fall apart in front of you and being unable to look away.
About the author
Tim MacGabhann is the author of the novels Call Him Mine and How to Be Nowhere, the long poem Rory Gallagher--Live!--from the Hotel of the Dead and the memoir The Black Pool.
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