All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood.
We meet his mother, Ma MacDonald, an accordion-playing, spiked-heel-wearing, indomitable mother to all; Whitey Bulger, the lord of Southie, gangster and father figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide.
MacDonald’s story is ultimately one of overcoming the racist, classist ideology he was born into. It's also a searing portrayal of life in a poor, white neighborhood plagued by violence and crime and deeply in denial about it.
I read this book twice and I'd read it again. This is a riveting true story written by a man who grew up in South Boston ("southie") during the turbulent busing years. MacDonald is a talented storyteller, who describes the tragedies, drama and pride of living in southie like no other. Having grown up in a nearby 'burb', I remember reading in the media all about the busing crisis and riots. But I never got an insider's view of what life was truly like in the projects. This is a great read, will
I was born and raised in New England and I have heard at one point that Southie is pretty tough, but I never really cared enough to think about it. It was usually mentioned by guys that bragged about being from that area and I just don't find violence impressive. I think it is great that Michael MacDonald overcame so many obstacles to have found a positive role in such an ugly place. He's well educated and an activist for safety in Boston suburbs. While I'm all about anti violence I think people
It actually took me quite awhile to finish this book. Not because it was bad, but because the stark reality of it was something that I found so emotional that I found myself feeling a bit lost. He wrote so emotionally about his family, giving the reader a glimpse into a world that most of us have could never imagine. But I found that I was relating my own life to those events that Mr. MacDonald experienced. I remember the busing problems in South Boston and the evolution of our generation. The
All Souls was a real eye-opener for me. I decided to read it because of Whitey Bulger's recent arrest, but I took much more from it than I expected to. I'm a somewhat new resident of Boston; I've been here for about six years. This book reminds me that you can live in a city for a long time- forever, maybe- and not genuinely know it. I'm not super familiar with Southie; I've been there a handful of times. I'm not even sure if the Southie described in this book still exists. Even the parts of All
a sad, yet engrossing, memoir of a guy who grew up in southie (the poor irish neighborhood in south boston) during the busing riots of the 1970's. i've lived in the boston area for most of the past 6 1/2 years, but i really didn't know much about southie other than that it was poor, white, and not the best place to be after dark. one of the things i loved about this book was that it showed the community that exists behind and beyond that stereotype.what this book really showed me was how a
This book completely blew me away. I rarely give anything 5 stars but there was no question in this case. This is the true story of a poor white Irish-American family living in the projects in Southie. The writer was the 9th of 11 children and came of age during the seventies, right in the middle of busing and forced integration of housing projects. His story is unquestionably the most frightening story of urban poverty I've ever read, only in part because it's a true story. The fear this family
Michael Patrick MacDonald
Paperback | Pages: 263 pages Rating: 4.09 | 10629 Users | 828 Reviews
Details Books Supposing All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Original Title: | All Souls: A Family Story from Southie |
ISBN: | 034544177X (ISBN13: 9780345441775) |
Edition Language: | English |
Literary Awards: | American Book Award (2000), Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award (2000), Boston Author's Club Award (2000) |
Relation Conducive To Books All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"--the Irish-American Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest concentration of impoverished whites in the U.S.In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood.
We meet his mother, Ma MacDonald, an accordion-playing, spiked-heel-wearing, indomitable mother to all; Whitey Bulger, the lord of Southie, gangster and father figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide.
MacDonald’s story is ultimately one of overcoming the racist, classist ideology he was born into. It's also a searing portrayal of life in a poor, white neighborhood plagued by violence and crime and deeply in denial about it.
Itemize Epithetical Books All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Title | : | All Souls: A Family Story from Southie |
Author | : | Michael Patrick MacDonald |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 263 pages |
Published | : | October 3rd 2000 by Ballantine Books (first published September 25th 1999) |
Categories | : | Nonfiction. Autobiography. Memoir. Biography. History |
Rating Epithetical Books All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Ratings: 4.09 From 10629 Users | 828 ReviewsWeigh Up Epithetical Books All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
I have been dancing around this book for years, people recommended it to me or it was mentioned in conversations, I even recommended it to someone myself when we were talking about Black Mass, though I hadn't read it myself. The author's frank, unapologetic telling of his life's story is at times stark and horrifying but also a beautiful picture of the resilience and underlying ties that bind us all. White poverty is a taboo subject and as someone raised outside of Boston the other side of theI read this book twice and I'd read it again. This is a riveting true story written by a man who grew up in South Boston ("southie") during the turbulent busing years. MacDonald is a talented storyteller, who describes the tragedies, drama and pride of living in southie like no other. Having grown up in a nearby 'burb', I remember reading in the media all about the busing crisis and riots. But I never got an insider's view of what life was truly like in the projects. This is a great read, will
I was born and raised in New England and I have heard at one point that Southie is pretty tough, but I never really cared enough to think about it. It was usually mentioned by guys that bragged about being from that area and I just don't find violence impressive. I think it is great that Michael MacDonald overcame so many obstacles to have found a positive role in such an ugly place. He's well educated and an activist for safety in Boston suburbs. While I'm all about anti violence I think people
It actually took me quite awhile to finish this book. Not because it was bad, but because the stark reality of it was something that I found so emotional that I found myself feeling a bit lost. He wrote so emotionally about his family, giving the reader a glimpse into a world that most of us have could never imagine. But I found that I was relating my own life to those events that Mr. MacDonald experienced. I remember the busing problems in South Boston and the evolution of our generation. The
All Souls was a real eye-opener for me. I decided to read it because of Whitey Bulger's recent arrest, but I took much more from it than I expected to. I'm a somewhat new resident of Boston; I've been here for about six years. This book reminds me that you can live in a city for a long time- forever, maybe- and not genuinely know it. I'm not super familiar with Southie; I've been there a handful of times. I'm not even sure if the Southie described in this book still exists. Even the parts of All
a sad, yet engrossing, memoir of a guy who grew up in southie (the poor irish neighborhood in south boston) during the busing riots of the 1970's. i've lived in the boston area for most of the past 6 1/2 years, but i really didn't know much about southie other than that it was poor, white, and not the best place to be after dark. one of the things i loved about this book was that it showed the community that exists behind and beyond that stereotype.what this book really showed me was how a
This book completely blew me away. I rarely give anything 5 stars but there was no question in this case. This is the true story of a poor white Irish-American family living in the projects in Southie. The writer was the 9th of 11 children and came of age during the seventies, right in the middle of busing and forced integration of housing projects. His story is unquestionably the most frightening story of urban poverty I've ever read, only in part because it's a true story. The fear this family
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.