Pull Me Up

The "This Land" columnist for The New York Times, Dan Barry has shared a Pulitzer Prize and a George Polk Award, and received the 2003 Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He lives with his family in Maplewood, New Jersey.

"On every level, Pull Me Up is a love story. There is love of the family, of location, of song, of learning, and of language itself. There is illness and despair and money worries, but what else is there to do but have a beer, listen to and sing with Johnny Cash, fall back on the Irish ballads, and to hell with the begrudges? You won't soon forget this book, the father, Eugene, the mother, Noreen and you'll rejoice in Dan Barry's prose that flashes with poetry. He might be a journalist but he can't stop singing. You will too." Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes.