Things You Get For Free

‘McGirr offers some of the sharpest observations on European foibles since Mark Twain swept through the continent … Readers will come for the humour, but they’ll stay for McGirr’s haunting memories of his path into the priesthood, his mother’s sacrifices and his father’s death.’

* Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) *

‘It would be impossible not to enjoy the company of Michael McGirr: son, priest, raconteur and writer.’

* The Age *

‘No travel writing I have read elsewhere has such depth of insight into depression, organised religion and the empires of Other People and What It All Meant.’

-- Les Murray * Times Literary Supplement *

‘A fresh and funny memoir — thoughtful, searching, with reckless flashes of tenderness.’

-- Helen Garner

'Most people writing about their mothers go in for self-justification or malicious gossip: McGirr doesn't - he goes in for tenderness and humour. This is a happy book about a happy journey made by two happy grown ups, who have known each other a long time. It could be "twee" but it isn't - it's refreshing. Probably because McGirr writes well and is not sentimental but loving (towards his mother, his world and himself). It's a shame that the word "delightful" has been devalued - this is a delightful book; it is full of delights.'

-- Sara Mait