ALAN DOYLE is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as a lead singer in the Canadian folk-rock band Great Big Sea. In 2012, Doyle released his first solo album, Boy on Bridge, which made the top twenty on the Canadian Albums chart. Doyle lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Named one of the Book Guys' (CTV Ottawa) Best Reads of the Season
"The rollicking new book is Doyle's portrait of his youth in the
Newfoundland fishing village of Petty Harbour. Forget your early
days as a Starbucks barista: his first job was cutting out cod
tongues down on the wharf, just one of the places where he soaked
up the culture and music that would later shape his hit band."
--Georgia Straight "Doyle's recently published memoir is so packed
with colourful characters and stories, it's almost hard to believe
they all come from real life. . . . Doyle's storytelling is so
rich. . . . Written in a warm, chatty tone, with a sprinkling of
illustrations, Where I Belong invites the reader to experience a
Newfoundland that many 'Mainlanders' may not know."
--Guelph Mercury
"A heartwarming read. . . . Doyle's rollicking work shares his
childhood from birth to his teens in the fishing village of Petty
Harbour. . . . readers will be engaged by vignettes of Doyle's life
in a small house on rocky Skinner's Hill in Petty Harbour."
--Rocky Mountain Outlook (Canmore)
"While Alan Doyle writes an unflinching account of his boyhood. . .
. practical things can be learned from reading Where I Belong how
to play certain guitar chords; how to bake eight loaves of bread;
how to cut out tongues."
--The Packet (Newfoundland) "A poignant and often comical memoir of
growing up in Petty Harbour."
--The Telegram (St. John's) "[A] rough-hewn saga growing up poor
but happy on the Rock. . . . You'll love the skillful way Doyle
teases his involvement with the band into the narrative. Yes,
you'll hear the whole wonderful story of how 'Ordinary Day' was
created and, much as you may love that song now, you'll love it
even more with the added knowledge. But even better is the way you
see Doyle slowly but inevitably following the invisible flight path
that would take him to the career he was always meant to have."
--Toronto Star
"Funny, tender and practically glowing with rose-coloured
nostalgia, Doyle's childhood tale comes across as a textbook
example of doing-the-best-with-what-you-have and the amiable,
resourceful nature of Newfoundland's inshore fishing communities .
. . a community that seemed to be the last vestige of another
world."
--Calgary Herald "Alternately laugh-out-loud funny, tearfully
nostalgic, and stunningly beautiful, the stories in Where I Belong
have nothing to do with the famous and everything to do with the
legendary. . . . With Where I Belong Alan has crafted a
coming-of-age story that reads almost like a male version of A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn in its Irish sensibility, episodic narrative, and
rapturously detailed universe small in physical scale but infinite
in color and character. . . . The beating heart of life itself runs
through this book."
--Huffington Post "Warm and witty."
--The Halifax Chronicle-Herald
"An engaging account of a colourful childhood. . . . [A] funny and
fascinating read, written in a style that captures the
eccentricities of Newfoundland culture."
--Ottawa Citizen
"Doyle reaches back into his childhood, reminiscing with plenty of
humour and self-deprecation and creating a poignant portrait of
small-town Newfoundland. . . . His stories are rich and
colourful."
--The Telegram (St. John's) "Doyle reaches back into his childhood,
reminiscing with plenty of humour and self-deprecation and creating
a poignant portrait of small-town Newfoundland. . . . His stories
are rich and colourful."
--The Telegram (St. John's) "Where I Belong chronicles Doyle's
childhood and remarkable rise with the lyrical and candid
storytelling fans know and love from his music." --CBC Books "It
reads like the man himself--charming and funny, down to earth,
eager to entertain and naturally entertaining. Doyle weaves stories
of his formative years into a tapestry of great adventure, lessons
learned, principals instilled and loads of laughs. You'll discover
delightful characters amidst colourful settings and not one mention
of destiny. No, Alan attributes his many achievements to something
else entirely . . . "
--Atlantic Business Magazine
"A rolling, jaunty, whiskey-laced ballad, an ode, if you will, that
will have you thirsting for more. When I turned the last page, I
honestly felt sad. I didn't want it to end."
--Jann Arden "Alan Doyle, musician and raconteur, can now add
author to his list of accomplishments. He has an undeniably
compelling voice in this book about his early life in Petty
Harbour. Funny, wise, and self-deprecating, this book is hard to
put down. Alan is a truly great storyteller and his life in a small
Newfoundland fishing village is a story dying to be told."
--Jim Cuddy, of Blue Rodeo "To many people, Petty Harbour's
geographic isolation, bleak surroundings, and limited economic
opportunities would have placed limits on their lives, limits from
which they would have never recovered. To my friend Alan Doyle,
they were just a challenge to overcome, and this strange and
eccentric village would offer a well of experience, enough to fuel
a lifetime of creativity. Newfoundland has changed immensely in the
past decades, but Petty Harbour held onto its past for much longer
than most places, and Alan was lucky enough to remember how
wonderful it could be."
--Bob Hallett, of Great Big Sea "If you're lucky enough to have
spent any time with Alan, then you may have heard one or two of
these stories before. If you haven't, this book is the next best
thing." --Ed Robertson, of Barenaked Ladies "There are great big
smiles to be found on nearly every page. A beautiful memoir of
heart and place."
--Linwood Barclay, author of A Tap on the Window "Doyle is
exuberant, irreverent, hilariously funny and a heart-on-the-sleeve
Newfoundlander. As a writer, he's all that and a bag of chips . . .
. Intimate, saucy and note-perfect. In his own words: Deadly."
--Michael Crummey, author of Galore "Excellent adventure. I feel
like I've lived another's life."
--Russell Crowe "Where does Alan's sound come from? The Catholic
side of Petty Harbour, ball hockey behind O'Brien's Fish Plant,
Uncle Ronnie's band. He dreamed of being goalie for the Montreal
Canadiens (I dreamed of being a rock star). He lives everything he
does. That sound is here in his book."
--Ken Dryden "As Great Big Sea's frontman, Alan Doyle is exuberant,
irreverent, hilariously funny and a heart-on-the-sleeve
Newfoundlander. As a writer, he's all that and a bag of chips.
Doyle's description of growing up on the hills and wharves of old
world Petty Harbour is intimate, saucy and note-perfect. In his own
words: Deadly."
--Michael Crummey, author of Galore "A gentle, honest and often
hilarious account of life in small-town Newfoundland.
Stratocasters, goalie pads, skin mags and cutting tongues, Alan's
charming and sometimes uproarious tale has it all."
--Edward Riche, author of Rare Birds "Doyle [is] a master
storyteller in a land rich in that resource. Where I Belong brought
back some amazing memories of growing up in a small fishing
community and what was to be life outside our hometown. From the
first time I laid eyes on him, Alan's been that guy, the funny,
charming dude cursed with charisma, with the talent to back it up.
This book gives great insight into that super-talented, creative
and insightful mind of a true entertainer."
--Perry Chafe, co-creator/writer of Republic of Doyle "Alan Doyle
the writer, like Alan Doyle the person, is charming, funny, a
natural storyteller who can be sweet without sliding into
sentimentality, who can be honest without tumbling into darkness.
The book breezes along the path that leads to Great Big Sea, and
couldn't feel more authentic. If you know the place, you know these
fantastic characters are real."
--Stephen Brunt, author of Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, Canada and the
Day Everything Changed "In Where I Belong, Alan uses his natural
'master storyteller superpower' to draw you in as a reader in much
the same way he does while holding court in the pub or in his own
kitchen. This book shines a light on a very particular place and
time in Newfoundland's history, as seen through the eyes of one of
the province's greatest talents."
--Allan Hawco, co-creator/star of Republic of Doyle
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