Christy Brown: THE CHILDHOOD STORY OF CHRISTY BROWN. 1976

Christy Brown: THE CHILDHOOD STORY OF CHRISTY BROWN (previously entitled My Left Wood). 1976 Pan Books. 160-sivuinen nidottu kirja, kansien ja selän reunoissa kulumia ja pientä repeämää (ks. kuva), muuten ehjä ja siisti, ei merkintöjä. Teos on ilmestynyt suomeksi nimellä Vasen jalkani (suomennos Pentti Saarikoski 1973).

The Childhood Story of Christy Brown (My Left Wood 1954) is warm, humorous autobiography of a courageous Irisman who overcame the severest of handicaps. Beneath the shattering exterior of a helpless, lolling baby was the racing, sensitive mind of one of the most brilliant authors of our time. Incredibly, determinedly, he learned to read, write, paint and finally type out with the toe of his left foot Down all the days – the magnificent novel of Dublin slum life which ensures his place among such literary giants as James Joyce and Sean O´Casey. Christy Brown, ´man of genius´, had arrived. "A story of courage that is wise and in no way morbid" (The Sunday Times).

Christy Brown (1932 – 1981) was an Irish author, painter and poet who had severe cerebral palsy. He is most famous for his autobiography My Left Foot (1954), which was 1989 made into an Academy Award –winning film of the same name. Brown married his nurse, Mary Carr, 1972 in Sutton Co Dublin. He settled in Ballyheigue, County Kerry. He later moved to Parbrook, Somerset, England. His autobiography, My Left Foot, was later expanded into the novel Down All the Days (1970) and became an international bestseller, with translations into 14 languages. The Irish Times reviewer Bernard Share said the book was "...the most important Irish novel since Ulysses". Like Joyce, Brown employed the stream-of-consciousness technique and captured the Dublin culture in his use of humour, language and unique character description. Down All the Days is a novel of Ireland and its society, focusing more on that than Browns illness. Down All the Days was followed by a series of other novels, including A Shadow on Summer (1972), Wild Grow the Lilies (1976) and A Promising Career (published posthumously in 1982). He also published three poetry collections, including Come Softly to My Wake (1971), Background Music (1973) and Of Snails and Skylarks (1978; now available in a compendium as The Collected Poems of Christy Brown 1991). The Irish rock band The Pogues paid tribute to Christy Brown with a song titled "Down All the Days" (1989).

Christy Brownin teoksista ovat suomeksi ilmestyneet Jonnekin päivästä pois (1970; Down all the days 1970) ja Vasen jalkani (1973; My left foot 1954); teokset on suomentanut Pentti Saarikoski.