100 SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE IRISH

A humorist celebrates and lovingly pokes fun at Irish culture in this lighthearted book.

At the start of this work, Cleary describes his own “freckled, reddish-haired” body “with skin the color of Xerox paper” and thus sets the tone for a self-deprecating tribute to his Irish heritage. Born in Lakewood, Ohio, as one of nine children, the author fittingly traces the Gaelic root of his last name to the word clerk, the medieval title of the person responsible for “recording the town’s births and deaths.” After this brief autobiographical introduction, Cleary devotes the rest of the book to providing readers a list of the titular “100 Signs.” At its best, the list draws on a keen sense of wordplay, noting, for instance, that you might be Irish if “you can’t make a long story short” or “you laugh when you’re at wakes…and cry when you’re at weddings.” But at times, the jokes lean a bit too heavily on the well-worn, stereotypical terrain about skin tone (sunscreen is an Irish person’s “favorite moisturizer, foundation, aftershave, or accessory”) and alcoholism (the Irish “blood type is Guinness” and Alcoholics Anonymous is “simply ‘The Program’ ”). Readers from Ireland will also note that the volume’s description of “Irish” is in reality a depiction of American-born descendants of Irish immigrants, as references to Irish police officers, firefighters, and fans of Notre Dame would ring hollow in Dublin. Despite these occasional comedic misfires, this is not a book that takes itself seriously, and it succeeds overall in honoring Irish culture through good-natured, backhanded compliments. Even while laughing at the “uncle who wears white socks with a suit” and the mother who “thought that ‘no girl was good enough’ for her boy,” Cleary vividly shows his love for his misfit Irish family. At 100 pages and written in an extra-large font that is often accompanied by clever, black-and-white cartoon drawings by McPeek, this work will make an ideal gift or coffee-table book.

A humorous take on Irish American culture that is full of laughs.