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Summary: stunning prose
Review: All Souls is an honest personal memoir, and a testimony to survival. MacDonald's love of South Boston could not have been expressed more brilliantly. As a Southie native who grew up in the poor census tracts of "The Lower End," I am proud of MacDonald and feel like my own voice is finally being heard, rather than being stifled by the the denial and silence I grew up with. No, MacDonald doesn't pretend to speak for an entire neighborhood of 30,000. No memoir does. It's a personal account of growing up in a neighborhood where young deaths were the norm. I too attended multiple funerals for kids dead from drugs and violence -- all kids from "good" families. As a nation we have a lot to learn from All Souls and from MacDonald's "Ma."
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Summary: Super writing, funny, tragic - a must read
Review: Kirkus Reviews are right a remarkable book indeed. This is one book I could not put down. Not just one dramatic story but many, told with great humor in a matter of fact way. Mr Mc Donald does not seek pity here and is non judgemental in his storytelling. There is something here for everyone and the book gives us an insight into the life of this resilient family and strong mother. BRAVO!!
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Summary: An honest and moving story of a family's struggle!
Review: Michael Patrick MACDONALD has a very compelling story to tell and does so eloquently! Mr.MacDonald deserves a great deal of credit for writing his story as an inspiration to South Boston's youth to stop the violence and drug use.
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Summary: wonderfully written of growing up in a white ghetto
Review: MacDonald paints a picture that compells the reader to imagine the life he led. The character of his mother is so vibrant, you can image you know her. An excellent book, that is hard to put down. MacDonald mixes growing up in an environment that at best depressing at times and shares the wonderful experience of growing up in a place that also was the best place in the world...A must read!!!
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Summary: This book is beautifully written, heartwrenching and funny.
Review: I could not put ALL SOULS down. It is a seering and wise portrait of growing up poor in a big city and the dawning of political and social awareness. The characters in Michael MacDonald's family are beautifully drawn and one can't stop reading about them. The book is simply brilliant and anyone who cares about the future of this country should read it.
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Summary: "Great book! MacDonald is a true Irish storyteller."
Review: Mike MacDonald tells the honest truth about South Boston's demise at the hands of the Irish Mafia, led by powerful bosses such as Whitey Bulger. Intertwined with the stories about the criminal and political world of South Boston, MacDonald tells the story of his large family and the many tales of tradgedy that they endured living in the "projects". The story is well told and the book ends in a very positive note, with the memories of many of Southie's young being remembered and the neighborhood silence finally broken.
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Summary: Everyone from Boston should read this book
Review: Before the gentrification of Southie and Dot, these areas contained Boston's infamous white "underclass." This book is the story of a fascinating family that lived in Southie in the 70's and 80's, and witnessed and participated in some of the most important events to happen in Boston in the 20th century.The book is really divided into two parts. The first part takes place when the author was a very young child, and is primarily about his older siblings. It is the 70's, when the bussing riots are threatening to destroy Boston and the Winter Hill gang was hanging around in a certain auto body shop. The author makes it clear that a lot of what he tells about these events is second hand, primarily from his siblings and his mother. However, since they were very active in so many events, and since this book concentrates on the whole family and not just the author, this does not detract from the veracity of the book at all. The second part takes place in the 1980's, when, in the aftermath of the Charles Stewart fiasco, the police are looking for a martyr to prove that they're not rascist. They settle on the author's younger brother. The most fascinating thing about this book his how the author manages to chronicle how a family and a community can disintigrate while remaining as strong as ever. Not everyone in the family, or the community makes it through the book, and as Southie is quickly becoming hot real estate it is sad to think of the community that is being condo'd over. Anyone who is interested in knowing why Boston is the way it is now should read this book. Boston is still living with the repurcussions of the period that this book covers, and this book offers a fascinating first (and sometimes second) hand account of the events that shaped our city.
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Summary: All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Review: My reactions relate not only to the reading "All Souls" but to other reviews of the work. I should state with clarity that I am familiar neither with the individuals in the book nor with the history of Southie. Yet MacDonald's book is vital to both the story of urban centers such as Boston but also to the untold story of white poverty in the United States. Books such as "All Souls" and more militant pieces such as "The Redneck Manifesto" (Jim Goad's brash and irreverent book) are important accounts of white poverty. MacDonald never portrayed his work as "a socio-cultural study of white poverty in an Urban Center in the Northeastern United States," but a personal account of his family's experiences. "All Souls" presents a good picture of the complexities of the real world - a family that was a picture of both dysfunction and resiliency, a community "code" that served both as its' strength and its' Achilles heal, and a person who journeyed through life trying to come to terms with these issues. Unaware of the accuracy of the "facts," the story of this family is an important addition to those who continually ignore the reality of the "white experience in America" - an experience, that for many, is not couched in race-based advantage. To dismiss an important piece of work such as this based on interpretation of facts or untold pieces of what is an enormously complex story misses the point. Mr. MacDonald, good job on starting an important discussion!
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Summary: Amazing...Must Read!!!
Review: All Souls, a memoir written by Michael Patrick MacDonald, describes in riveting detail the tumultuous history of growing up in the projects of South Boston during the 1960's and 1970's. The story reaches into the depths of our hearts, exposing us to the cruel realities the residents of Southie suffered on a daily basis. Southie was "the best place in the world" according to many residents, but in actuality it was a deep dark secret place ravaged by drugs, corruption, crime and poverty. MacDonald recreates vivid pictures of an often cruel and unforgiving city that seems to have been forgotten by the rest of the world. He is successful in every attempt as he shares his personal tragedies and triumphs with the reader.
Throughout the book, MacDonald discusses a number of different events; some of which permanently alter his view of the world and others that provide glimpses of hope in the most trying of times. The stories guide readers through his family's early days of living in Columbia Point among high racial tensions in a mostly African-American neighborhood, to moving into a house with his grandfather in Jamaica Plain, and finally ending up at 8 Patterson Way in The Old Colony projects of South Boston. Old Colony is a mostly Irish Catholic community where eighty-five percent of households collected welfare and many of the children were raised without a father. As MacDonald travels to and from some of these places, he expresses many interesting comments and observations. While living with his grandfather, he and his siblings were given a glimpse of what he calls a "normal life," living in a home with an actual yard, and playing with neighbors who were regular kids living in houses where each of their parents worked daily. Unfortunately, just as the family becomes comfortable, the grandfather decides to sell the house, and not-so-kindly asks them to leave. MacDonald's "Ma" pulls some strings with a local politician named Dapper O'Neill, and the family receives an apartment at Old Colony by way of The Boston Housing Authority.
As the family moves into their new apartment in Southie, MacDonald talks about some of challenges they confronted. He says, speaking of his own experiences, "We got along much better with the black kids in Jamaica Plain, who seemed to have more in common with us than these other kids with Irish parents" (p51). Although there exists a great deal of tragedy in many of these stories, MacDonald does not allow us to wallow for long, but rather he lifts readers up through scenes of humor and inspiration. He explains the first few weeks at 8 Patterson Way with lighthearted stories about capturing cockroaches using glasses of Sprite, talking to people with an "Irish Whisper" and watching action unfold on the streets below with his siblings. However, he promptly returns to the harsh realities of his world where he describes such daunting situations as his mother sitting in the doorway with a shotgun, threatening to kill anyone who has a problem with her family. MacDonald speaks at great lengths of the unity present among his neighbors during the busing riots in 1974. They joined together and fought the city - throwing rocks at buses and police, holding protest marches, and demanding an end to busing. These scenes are depicted in such explicit detail that the author makes readers feel as if they are in the heart of the action. He provides riveting eyewitness accounts of some the most significant events in Boston's unscrupulous past.
As we become more familiar with the Old Colony environment, we learn of the large scale violence and drugs causing great turmoil within the community. Residents are in desperate need of rescue, but no one seems to care. MacDonald talks in excruciating detail of the great number of murders and suicides occurring on a daily basis in Southie. He allows readers to experience the pain and devastation of losing four siblings, by drawing us into their lives through emotionally powerful stories, and then pulling the rug out from under our feet, sparing no details in describing their painful and horrific deaths. Violence plays such a significant role in these people's lives that for some, it almost becomes acceptable. Unfortunately many of the crimes in the neighborhood, even those committed in broad daylight in front of forty eyewitnesses, remain unsolved due not only to corrupt police and politicians, but more so, to the inherent Southie code of honor: "In Southie, the worst thing you could do was be a snitch" (p67). The infamous Whitey Bulger, now a fugitive from justice, upholds this code dutifully as he floods the streets with drugs and has many innocent people killed while at the same time maintaining a squeaky clean reputation among residents.
One cannot help but feel a great sense of sympathy for MacDonald and his family. All too often people turn their eyes and ears away, refusing to acknowledge crime and violence in their communities. All Souls is a true example of the human spirit prevailing, even when confronted in the most adverse of circumstances. Michael MacDonald's ability to turn hate and anger into love and compassion is as compelling as it is admirable. He grew up in complete poverty, lost four of his siblings to violence and drugs, watched an innocent brother spend time in jail for a murder he was wrongly accused of, and never experienced a real father figure in his life; yet he continues the fight against injustice, racism and prejudice. His organization, Citizens for Safety, formed in 1996, has since run many successful gun buyback programs in the city of Boston. Additionally, he has helped to establish support groups for parents who have lost children to violence and drugs. His story is truly inspiring, so much so, that MacDonald makes us want to stand up and join in his crusade for truth, justice and equality.
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Summary: Very Good
Review: In "All Souls" Michael MacDonald writes an autobiographical account of growing up in an Irish-American ghetto - Boston's "Southie." I can't say I enjoyed all of the book - some of it is saddening - but I did find it to be well-written, powerful and engaging. The story is an old one - people trapped and destroyed by ugly social conditions - but it is also a story of strength and survival.
I don't know much about Boston or Irish-Americans - I grew up in the south and now live in AZ - but I do have a concern for the plight of the American underclass which I believe stems largely from my experience in Vietnam. I did find some similarities between "All Souls" and Jim Goad's "The Redneck Manifesto" - expecially the way in which racial consciousness suppresses class consciousness among the lower classes - but I believe "All Souls" is in some ways the better book. It's understated and notably lacking in self pity.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the American underclass
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