His book is rare as an Irish memoir for the lack of rancour about his upbringing. Byrne’s parents emerge as loving, decent people. He doesn’t dwell on this, which makes it all the more convincing. His description of the decline and death of a loved sister is one of the most moving parts of the book. He takes religion seriously and writes vividly about being an altar boy – including his interest in altar wine – and memorably, about deciding, aged 11, that he had a vocation for the priesthood.

... a remarkably intimate new memoir.

Sure, Byrne shares a few Hollywood tidbits...But Byrne, who turned 70 last year, has written something more introspective and literary: an elegiac memoir that explores the interior life of a Dublin boy who finds himself almost accidentally — and incidentally — famous. It’s a story about Ireland and exile and carrying the ghosts of family and home through time.

... his style, though lyrical, is also characterised by the marked shifts in tone that his nonlinear narrative demands.

Mortality is clearly weighing heavily on the actor’s mind in this honest and humble second book. His first memoir, Pictures In My Head,was published in 1994. Though some of the same anecdotes crop up in Walking With Ghosts, their telling has been reworked and the 26-year gap between the two has sharpened Byrne’s perception and articulation. There is a general sense that he is arranging, probing and nostalgically gazing at past memories, deriving meaning and learning to accept his own mortality.

[A] melancholic and poetic memoir.

... an unexpected pleasure. Take any idea of what you might have about a celebrity memoir and put it aside; it’s beautifully written, very literary and Byrne’s celebrity is almost incidental to his life. Rather than the usual celebrity fare, this one speaks to the heart of the person.

[Byrne] writes lyrically about Catholic rituals, his first love, and even his ominous taste for alcohol, and describes tales of celebrity interactions (he went horseback riding with a woman he later learned was Ava Gardner and went drinking with Richard Burton) with humor and self-deprecation. Particularly heartbreaking is his account (both witnessed and imagined) of his beloved sister’s mental illness.

I have read many biographies and autobiographies in my lifetime, but nothing compares to actor Gabriel Byrne’s memoir.

It feels torn between two editors, shifting non-chronologically from idyllic recollections of an Irish boyhood, alive with nature and church-centered performances, to sardonic stories about showbiz.

... an exceptionally lyrical and expressive memoir.

In this intimate memoir, Irish actor Byrne charts his rocky rise to stardom and his battles with alcoholism.

... he writes with much more depth than the typical celebrity memoirist, accessing some of Heaney’s earthiness and Joyce’s grasp of how Catholic guilt can shape an artist.