‘I couldn’t remember the taxi to the airport.
The last thing I could remember before waking up on the plane was reaching for a spoon and the revolver-shaped novelty blowtorch lighter I had bought in Barcelona
and letting it crackle under the foil again.’
– The Black Pool
[ About The Black Pool ]
Following an obsessive mind trying (and failing) to find relief, The Black Pool is a gripping thrill-ride through violent, chaotic underworlds. Tracing the roots of an illness through the failures of youth and adolescence and finally back to childhood, it’s about all the wrong places where addicts look for transcendence – from work, to relationships, to writing, to anger.
It shows us rock bottom and the start of the journey to recovery from there. It’s a memoir shot full of holes and shocking clarities.
Towards the end, it achieves something like serenity – something like recovery.
[ My Review ]
The Black Pool by Tim MacGabhann published May 22nd with Sceptre. It is described as ‘a raw and powerful memoir of addiction and recovery, across three continents and multiple drugs, from early childhood through adulthood.‘
The Black Pool is an extraordinary memoir. Tim MacGabhann’s life experiences horrified me. In this unflinching account he takes the reader on an emotionally intense journey. Beginning in Ireland, he travels across continents carrying his addictions with him. Exposing his vulnerabilities, he provides us with a voyeuristic view of those nightmarish years.
Crossing paths with some very dangerous people, MacGabhann was fortunate to meet others who looked out for him. With an inheritance, and piecemeal work as a journalist, he was able to suspend much of his life, floating along in a drug-induced bubble. This treacherous path was slowly choking off his air supply as he tempted fate one too many times. His patterns of addiction are all described without gloss or polish. His life spiralled out of control on numerous occasions, hitting rock-bottom all too frequently.
Born in Kilkenny, MacGabhann studied in Trinity College, Dublin. Dropping out of his doctoral programme he eventually travelled to South America and Mexico. Finding himself in perilous situations he just about managed to survive. Today, living in Paris, he has attempted to join the dots and fill in the ‘memory holes‘ through this ‘Memoir of Forgetting.’
‘Forgetting was bliss beyond name to me. Those slow, years-long deletions, by needle, by bottle, by baggie: they were an aesthetic project to me’
MacGabhann is a complex individual. He has a very distinctive and colourful style of writing. Immersing oneself in The Black Pool is like stepping inside his brain. We witness the turmoil, as he tries to extract a reason for his existence. He asks very philosophical questions, going deep into his thoughts and actions.
The Black Pool is an uncompromising and terrifying read. Self-reflective, it is also tinged with hope. I’m not sure I have ever read something so completely unfiltered and challenging.
[Thank you to Hachette Ireland for a copy of The Black Pool in exchange for my honest review]
[ Bio ]
Tim MacGabhann is the author of the novels Call Him Mine and How to Be Nowhere and the long poem Rory Gallagher–Live!–from the Hotel of the Dead. His memoir The Black Pool published May 2025 with Sphere.
Sounds like a challenging life and a challenging read!
Very much so Lucy. How he’s still standing is incredible
Sounds a bit like Patrick Melrose. Not sure if it’s for me, I tend to get either over-anxious or judgemental with such memoirs.
I’m not familiar with Patrick Melrose. Must look him up. It’s definitely not a book for everyone, but what an extraordinary story he has to tell – scary but fascinating