Alice McDermott was born on June 27, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. She attended St. Boniface School in Elmont, Long Island, NY in 1967 and Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead NY in 1971. Later, she graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego with a BA in 1975 and received her MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1978.

In 1987, she received a Whiting Writers Award and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction three times. Currently, she lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband, a neuroscientist, and their three children.

Her novel, Charming Billy, won the National Book Award. It is a poignant story that delves into various themes such as alcoholism, addiction, summer romances, unrequited love, loneliness in a crowd, and the consequences of a small white lie. It also explores commitment, sacrifice, faith, and loyalty. The story is about Billy Lynch, an Irish-American Catholic from the Bronx, who is an outsider among the elites of the Hamptons and Long Island. He is a charming, incurable romantic, known for his humor among his friends. Despite being a decent and fragile human being, his story could be that of anyone's eccentric neighbor, reclusive uncle, or a hero returning from war. With intuitive wisdom and sensitive grace, Alice McDermott has created a remarkable and engaging read.

The beautiful writing and the delicate weaving of the story in this work are truly remarkable.

The author has managed to create a world that draws the reader in and keeps them engaged from start to finish.

However, the ending is just so incredibly sad.

It's a kind of sadness that is difficult to put into words, a feeling that lingers long after the last page has been turned.

It left me feeling completely depleted, as if all the emotions that had been building up throughout the story had been suddenly drained away.

For this reason, I find it hard to recommend this work.

While the writing and the story are excellent, the ending is just too overwhelming and may not be suitable for everyone.

It's a shame, really, because the rest of the work shows so much promise.

But unfortunately, the ending has left such a negative impression that it's hard to look past it.

Perhaps others will have a different reaction to the ending, but for me, it was just too much.

You know how sometimes something is so sad that you detach because it seems unrealistic? Well, that's not the case here. It's sad precisely because it is so realistic.

The author has crafted a timeless tale about an alcoholic and the enabler. We encounter many patients who are alcoholics in our work. Alcoholism is indeed a disease, and it should be diagnosed and treated as such.

When people battle with addiction, so much love and potential are wasted. Relationships are shattered, and loved ones are left with a bittersweet ending. It gets to a point where it's so difficult that those around the addict are relieved when it's over, yet they also miss the person terribly. Because alcoholism is like a death sentence. If you don't stop, it will eventually catch up with you.

It's a tough situation for everyone involved - the addict and those who love and care for them. I always think that it doesn't matter if we've tried 50 times; the 51st attempt might be the one that succeeds. However, I only have the 3-5 day detox stay. I don't have the long-term approach that can be much more challenging, as we see in the book. I'm sure anyone in Al-anon can share their own story. The characters in this book vividly展现 the complexity of the disease and the way it takes over the lives of both the person struggling with it and those around them.

I constantly find myself reading books that I have high hopes for, only to be left with a tinge of disappointment. Am I simply becoming more difficult to please or perhaps a bit grumpy? Well, this particular book failed to meet my expectations by a long shot. I found it to be overly long and dreadfully boring. It starts off with Billy's funeral and essentially takes a retrospective look at his life, but unfortunately, very little actually happens. I'm aware that it has won numerous awards, but truth be told, I didn't even have a great affection for the writing style. It just didn't seem to engage me in the way I had hoped. I was left feeling rather let down and wondering if my standards were too high or if this book just wasn't for me.