Richard Joseph O'prey

Immigrants' Son: a Memoir and Essay Richard Joseph O'prey

Immigrants' Son is a labor of love about a time, a place, a people, and a mentality that is no more. The facts lie on dusty shelves in unread books or in the fading faltering memories of those who witnessed the unique experience of Washington Heights. From the sectarian oppression of Northern Ireland to the rock-strewn farms of Connaught, the author notes the blessings of America upon the Irish Immigrants. Furthermore, infused with pride in lrish-Catholicism but unaware of its insularity at the time, he writes of the tiny 'Emerald Isle' adrift in a vast sea of Jews and other Ethnics in Washington Heights, The interplay between the groups stirs conflicting opinions and startling judgments. Immigrants' Son is as much essay as memoir. It reads more like an oral anthology than a historical chronicle. The author's descriptions are appealing, his analogies debatable, his digressions amusing, his interpretations informative, and his conclusions open to challenge. Blending humor with the lessons of his personal experience, O'Prey offers a narrative that readers should find fascinating and provocative.