Almost four stars. It was fun and interesting stepping back into the streets of Belfast and there were aspects of the book that I found so truthful and beautiful that it was a little stunning. I completely detested Chuckie's trip to America--the author's America that was made up, it would seem, from watching too many episodes of Law & Order and other police dramas. In fact, the poor quality of the depiction of America causes doubts in my mind of the author's version of Belfast as well. Still, I did enjoy it. There is quite a bit a swearing in the book and I found that rather distracting through the first half.