ANew York Times bestseller, winner of the National Book Award and a finalist for the International Dublin IMPAC Literary Award,Charming Billy is "Alice McDermott's masterpiece" (NPR) and now a Picador Modern Classic.

Billy Lynch's family and friends have gathered to comfort his widow, and to pay their respects to one of the last great romantics. As they trade tales of his famous humor, immense charm, and consuming sorrow, a complex portrait emerges of an enigmatic man, a loyal friend, a beloved husband, an incurable alcoholic. Alice McDermott's striking novel is a study of the lies that bind and the weight of familial love, of the way good intentions can be as destructive as the truth they were meant to hide.