Together, mother and son led a vagabond existence until 1905 when she operated the Star Lady Barbershop in Kansas City.
[citation needed] Dahlberg enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I, in which he lost the use of an eye after being struck with a rifle butt.
His first novel, Bottom Dogs, was based on his childhood experiences at the orphanage and his travels in the American West; it was published in London with an introduction by D. H. Lawrence.
[2] During his years as an expatriate writer in 1920s Paris, he knew James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Sean O'Casey, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S.
He later moved to Sóller, on Mallorca, while working on Because I Was Flesh, an autobiography which was published in 1964 and which was nominated for the National Book Award.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he became quite prolific and further refined his unique style through the publication of poetry, autobiographical works, fiction and criticism.
Members of this group included Frank O'Connor, Brendan Behan and Dominic Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, James Liddy, Garech Browne, Patrick Galvin and occasionally Frank McCourt and many others, with music often provided by The Dubliners.
[5] In his 2005 memoir Teacher Man, Frank McCourt remembered Dahlberg as an exceptionally belittling personality who enjoyed bullying his party guests.