Intoxicated by Life: A Memoir of a Dysfunctional Irish-American Family - Paperback

by Paul V. O'Leary (Author)

A family's legacy crumbles in the face of addiction in Paul V. O'Leary's emotional new memoir, Intoxicated by Life.

Jack O'Leary, a first-generation Irish American born to a mother who worked cleaning the houses of the rich, is determined to make it to the top.

A talented and ambitious man, Jack met his match in Mary, a stunning, younger woman who wants nothing more than to escape her working-class origins.

Together, the two begin a life that is quickly marred by tragedy-the loss of three parents and one child in the first four years of their marriage.

The seed of estrangement planted, the couple puts on a brave face-with decades of material success and good times coming their way.

Jack climbs the ladder of the business world and becomes president of a bank. Propelled into the social and financial elite, Jack and Mary embrace their new life of business travel, parties, new cars, country clubs, and Ivy League educations for their children.

But a secret addiction slowly eats away at the O'Leary family-one that will ultimately destroy everything, and everyone, they hold dear.

Author Biography

Paul V. O'Leary graduated with a BA from the University of Massachusetts, an MA in education from Adelphi University, and a JD from Suffolk University Law School.

A lawyer and forensic real estate appraiser, O'Leary is the owner of Paul V. O'Leary & Associates. He has been a member of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers, American Society of Appraisers, Massachusetts Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

O'Leary has lectured and taught courses in law, real estate appraising, and conservation preservation for a variety of organizations throughout the United States and in Europe. He is fluent or conversant in six languages, and has translated and edited several books for publishers in England, Switzerland, and the United States.