LONDON - 3 June 2005 - 450 words
Book Review: Bleeding Mouth
David Burke
If you saw the TV programme, The Monastery, you might like to read this book about the life of Gary McCormick, one of the five men who took part in the series.
You feel that you would come off worst if you tangled with Gary, he's a big bloke and handy with his fists as his book tells. They got him into all sorts of trouble where he was brought up, in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles in the eighties.
"I could talk for Ireland and I'd upset the paramilitaries" was Gary's comment from his hospital bed, recovering from a UDA punishment beating.
"Me and my bleeding mouth" is the accurate title of this book by Sue Weller.
Gary didn't like school, was frequently playing truant and skived at work. His cries for attention manifested themselves in acts of petty crime which saw him in various penal institutions in Northern Ireland.
A new life on the Isle of Man came to nought as he gambled away the precious cash saved for a new start.
"I found myself arguing endlessly with anyone I came across" was a comment in his late teens. Anyone who saw the TV programmes will vouch for his ability to get into an argument.
Building work in London brought a veneer of stability which dissolved on a return home for his gran's funeral. Drunk, he terrorised his family by smashing all the windows in their house. "Don't ever come back" his father told Gary.
Back in London on a building site he made a hoax bomb call to the police for which he was sentenced to two years in jail. He served his time in Camp Hill, Isle of Wight where he became a regular drugs user.
Gary stumbled into a Christian path after reading a Bible in prison and on release he went to a halfway house in Lancashire. Drink, drugs and temper got him nowhere and he drifted round the country before going to Sweden with a girlfriend.
That didn't last and then came his moment of stardom in the TV series, The Monastery, where five men from varying backgrounds entered into the Benedictine life for six weeks. In Gary's case, it proved beneficial. He returned to Cornwall where he had friends, came off drugs and drink now he is trying to give up smoking.
A forlorn book, a litany of self pity but one where good came eventually. Despite his persistent failures and problems Gary persevered in his search for God. He discovered that God doesn't make rubbish and now, finally, has more respect for himself.
Published by Day Three Editions at £6.99.
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