Preview
  • The Clancys of Queens

  • A Memoir
  • By: Tara Clancy
  • Narrated by: Tara Clancy
  • Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (241 ratings)

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The Clancys of Queens

By: Tara Clancy
Narrated by: Tara Clancy
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Publisher's summary

A witty memoir that weaves an authentic coming-of-age tale into a bold portrait of New York’s working-class women.

Fifth-generation New Yorker, third-generation bartender, and first-generation author Tara Clancy was raised in three wildly divergent homes: a converted boat shed in working class Queens, a geriatric commune of feisty, Brooklyn-born Italians, and a sprawling Hamptons estate she visited every other weekend. This childhood triptych comes to life in The Clancys of Queens, an electric, one-of-a-kind memoir.

From scheming and gambling with her force-of-nature grandmother, to brawling with 11-year-old girls on the concrete recess battle yard of MS 172, to hours lounging on Adirondack chairs beside an immaculate croquet lawn, to holding court beside Joey O’Dirt, Goiter Eddy, and Roger the Dodger at her Dad’s local bar, Tara leapfrogs across these varied spheres, delivering stories from each world with originality, grit, and outrageous humor.

But The Clancys of Queens is not merely an authentic coming-of-age tale or a rowdy barstool biography. Chock-full of characters who escape the popular imaginings of this city, it offers a bold portrait of real people, people whose stories are largely absent from our shelves. Most crucially, it captures - in inimitable prose - the rarely-heard voices of New York’s working-class women.

With a light touch but a hard hit, The Clancys of Queens blends savvy and wit to take us on an unforgettable strata-hopping adventure.

©2016 Tara Clancy (P)2016 Random House Audio
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Editorial reviews

Editors Select, October 2016 - Growing up, Tara Clancy spent weekdays with her dad in Broad Channel - a part of Queens that is poor, isolated, and sectioned off from the outside world by a wall of blue portable toilets. On weekends, she'd go visit her mom and her mom's millionaire boyfriend in the Hamptons. Able to "leap social strata in a single bound", Clancy offers all kinds of anecdotes imbued with the polarity of two entirely different environments and the contrasting characters she came to call family. What really makes her memoir, though, is Clancy's wonderful thick New York accent. She is a born narrator and spoken-word storyteller. Chock full of wit and charm, her stories will keep you laughing and, if you're lucky, speaking with a Queens-bred twang. Michael, Audible Editor

Critic reviews

"The fierce voices of working class women are too often inaudible in our top-down social economy, but when Tara Clancy breaks through, she dazzles us with authenticity, hilarity, and insight. The relentless honesty of her book will capture your heart." (Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree)
"This memoir is blessed by a narrating voice of such vivid originality the reader cannot help but relish the life it details." (Vivian Gornick, author of The Odd Woman and the City)
"Tara Clancy is my new favorite bad ass. The Clancys of Queens is a hilarious love letter to my favorite city and to working class families everywhere." (Stephen Adly Guirgis, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Between Riverside and Crazy)

What listeners say about The Clancys of Queens

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A Joyous Outer-Borough Biography

Tara Clancy tells us her and her family's story as though we were on the next barstool in her favorite Queens tavern. We get to know Tara's: raucous foul mouthed Italian grandmother, lost tennis balls retrieving grandfather, sensitive hard drinking policeman father, independent cleaning lady - college graduate mother, mother's summers in the Hamptons boyfriend, kid and grown-up friends and the wisecracking, fiercely loved and loving girl to woman, herself.

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Wow

What did you love best about The Clancys of Queens?

Tara's personality shines through her writing and I loved that she read it herself. Full of individuality, love and realism, her book is one of the best I have listened to in a long while. I'm most sad that I can't find anything else by her.

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Go ahead. You won't regret it.

I busted out laughing several times as I listened. I was anticipating this title and it did not let me down. I have heard the author read before, and it is especially enjoyable coming from the source.

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Awesome story of family and friends

No matter where you grew up, we can all relate to this lovely story. Precious!

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Another cute one!

I love memoirs. This one ranks right up there at 5 golden stars. The author is a great writer and narrator. Love the accent, love her spunk, love the book. A big rollicking family type book with colorful characters. Cannot praise it enough.

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Much love to my baby cousin Tara!

Amazing story telling, you are your father's daughter!! Miss you and love you!!! Congratulations, your big cousin Colleen Clancy!

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Whooooooohooooooooo!

Heartwarming laughter provoking like being in a room with the most captivating and honest storytellers you ever did hear!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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If memoirs are your jam, this is one of the best!

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This book is right up there with My Southern Journey by Rick Bragg, which for me is saying a great deal. The author narrating her story in her own voice takes us inside her family, her history, and Queens itself, using her New York accent as the perfect tour guide.

Too many authors make the mistake of narrating their own audio books when they, and us, would be better served if they had selected a pro. With this book, no one in the world could have narrated it more perfectly than the author herself.

This young woman is an outstanding writer, story teller, and performer. I truly hope she writes another twenty books in my lifetime. Though her family is vastly different from my family, many moments of love and connection are the same; the way her grandmother so fiercely protects, and then grieves, her sister, truly broke my heart. Possibly one of the best memoirs I will ever read. Home run. A++

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A joyride you don't want to miss...

With the author telling her story in her own voice, this book touched my soul and my heart. Very well written and read, a rare and delightful experience. Thank you for telling your story Tara Clancy

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Delightful!

I really enjoyed this. Just the simple story of a young woman and her life growing up in Queens. Life,however, is not simple but endlessly varied and joyous! The narration, provided by the author was a huge part of my enjoyment!

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