Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion (Paperback)

~ Michael Patrick MacDonald (Author)
Key Phrases: ghoulish guy, lenox hotel, Old Colony, New York, George Fox (more...)

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Product Description

In All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald told the story of the loss of four of his siblings to the violence, poverty, and gangsterism of Irish South Boston. In Easter Rising he tells the story of how he got out. Desperate to avoid the “normal” life of Southie, Michael reinvents himself in the burgeoning punk rock movement and the thrilling vortex of Johnny Rotten, Mission of Burma, and the Clash.

At nineteen MacDonald escapes further, to Paris and then London. Out of money, he contacts his Irish immigrant grandfather -- who offers a loan, but only if Michael will visit Ireland. It is this reluctant journey “home” that offers MacDonald a chance at reconciliation -- with his heritage, his neighborhood, and his family -- and a way forward.

About the Author

Michael Patrick MacDonald helped launch Boston’s successful gun-buyback program and is founder of the South Boston Vigil Group. He has won the American Book Award, a New England Literary Lights Award, and the Myers Center Outstanding Book Award administered by the Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America. His second book, the highly acclaimed memoir Easter Rising, was published in 2006, and will be available in paperback from Houghton Mifflin in March, 2008. He is currently writing the screenplay of All Souls for director Ron Shelton. MacDonald lives in Brooklyn.

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Product Details Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (March 3, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0618918639 ISBN-13: 978-0618918638 Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,412 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ghoulish guy, lenox hotel

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Colony, New York, George Fox, Johnny Rotten, Patterson Way, New Wave, Patti Smith, Sex Pistols, Nurse Feely, Mikey Dread, Nurse Lafferty, Rita Ratt, Mission of Burma, High Society, Lower East Side, Bad Brains, General Post Office, Boston Latin, Broadway Bridge, Dan Murphy, Mass Mental, Pine Street Inn, South Boston, Glen Mackee, Mass General

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	80% buy the item featured on this page: Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion 4.5 out of 5 stars (2) $11.16
	8% buy All Souls: A Family Story from Southie 4.6 out of 5 stars (194) $10.04
	7% buy Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under 4.8 out of 5 stars (37)
	3% buy 1916: The Easter Rising 4.5 out of 5 stars (6) $5.96

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2 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book!!!!, July 14, 2008 By  G. rush (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    If you've read "ALL SOULS" you need to read this book too. Also, if you ever have a chance to attend a reading by Michael, GO!!! This description was was done by the publisher... MacDonald's first book told of the loss of the author's four siblings to the violence, poverty, and gangsterism of Boston's Irish-American ghetto. The question "How did you get out?" has haunted him ever since. This narrative of reinvention begins with the young MacDonald's first forays outside the soul-crushing walls of Southie's Old Colony housing project. In greater Boston and eventually New York's East Village, he becomes part of the club scene, providing a 1980s social history and a powerful glimpse of what punk music was for him: a lifesaving form of subversion and self-education. Yet family tragedies eventually draw him home again, to a devastating breakdown induced by trauma and guilt. He meets his father for the first time, as a corpse. Finally, two trips to Ireland, the first as an alienated young man, the second with his extraordinary "Ma," are healing journeys unlike any other in Irish-American literature. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars self-rescue from the bottom of the barrel, Southie, June 25, 2009 By  David Forel (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Michael wrote about life in the hell of South Boston in "All Souls." That was a great story of a hard family life. This story is about that life from his own struggle to live it (not die in it) and get out of it. Before he pulls himself out of Southie, he finds an alternative life as a punk rock fan. By immersing himself in this other world, he gains the distance he needs to start his journey into his GED, then on to college, and etc. The story is interesting and very sad. It is also puzzling on two counts. First, Michael doesn't make clear exactly what drove him to complete his GED, a major change in time management and attitude adjustment. Second, the title, "Easter Rising" is scary. The title refers to the 1916 week-long Dublin battle that opened the modern "troubles" of the Irish independence movement. Why is this the title of the book? Metaphorically, who are the Irish, who are the English? I don't get it.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (March 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618918639
• ISBN-13: 978-0618918638
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,412 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book!!!!, July 14, 2008

By	G. rush (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you've read "ALL SOULS" you need to read this book too. Also, if you ever have a chance to attend a reading by Michael, GO!!!
This description was was done by the publisher...
MacDonald's first book told of the loss of the author's four siblings to the violence, poverty, and gangsterism of Boston's Irish-American ghetto. The question "How did you get out?" has haunted him ever since. This narrative of reinvention begins with the young MacDonald's first forays outside the soul-crushing walls of Southie's Old Colony housing project. In greater Boston and eventually New York's East Village, he becomes part of the club scene, providing a 1980s social history and a powerful glimpse of what punk music was for him: a lifesaving form of subversion and self-education. Yet family tragedies eventually draw him home again, to a devastating breakdown induced by trauma and guilt. He meets his father for the first time, as a corpse. Finally, two trips to Ireland, the first as an alienated young man, the second with his extraordinary "Ma," are healing journeys unlike any other in Irish-American literature.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars self-rescue from the bottom of the barrel, Southie, June 25, 2009

By	David Forel (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michael wrote about life in the hell of South Boston in "All Souls." That was a great story of a hard family life. This story is about that life from his own struggle to live it (not die in it) and get out of it. Before he pulls himself out of Southie, he finds an alternative life as a punk rock fan. By immersing himself in this other world, he gains the distance he needs to start his journey into his GED, then on to college, and etc.

The story is interesting and very sad. It is also puzzling on two counts. First, Michael doesn't make clear exactly what drove him to complete his GED, a major change in time management and attitude adjustment. Second, the title, "Easter Rising" is scary. The title refers to the 1916 week-long Dublin battle that opened the modern "troubles" of the Irish independence movement. Why is this the title of the book? Metaphorically, who are the Irish, who are the English? I don't get it.