I often use the past tense when I talk about my father, which is strange, since he's still alive, still an alcoholic, still a gambler and still, technically speaking, a criminal. At the end of 2002, he was released from a Brisbane prison after serving 20 months of a four-year sentence for armed robbery, which makes him sound dangerous and exciting. Far from it. He's five foot nothing, wears thick spectacles, speaks slowly with a broad Dublin accent and is polite to strangers.

LRB 6 May 2004 | PDF Download