Customer Reviews

Just Call Me Moose! Growing Up Italian in America

5 star:		(20)
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I am enjoying this book so very much and find that I have to read and then re-read certain parts, for it brings back so much of my childhood after the Depression, WWII life, trips to Boston and Dorchester on the elevated trains.

It is just wonderful!

I stop so often to reminisce and I don't want to put it down! A reader doesn't have to be Italian-American for this story will appeal to many people, young and old alike.

Received the book on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. Couldn't put it down. A very nice work! Well written - maybe Bossi should try a novel next if he's not already working on one! I really liked the opening and closing message, "In youth we learn; With age we understand". It provides the perfect context for the story. Would love to have met his Dad and "Mum".

This book is especially meaningful to those of us who have unexpectedly lost a parent and spent years wishing we had taken more time to talk with them. My guess is that people from the South Boston Area will have a special experience with this nostalgic view of the place they grew up. Two thumbs up for Karl Bossi!

Patrick Perry - DFW, TX

"I could not put this book down once I got into it. A very telling tale of not only growing up in America over the last 60 years, but more importantly the emotional story of a boy losing his Father and having to deal with his loss. While the author was getting ready for his Prom he heard a shotgun blast...and what happens next will keep you turning the page until the end of this book. The rest of this story could be adapted for a screenplay as the events unfold into stunning insights as the author takes a lifetime to comprehend the depth of all its complex issues. My hats off to a very riveting memoir!"

A compelling read, I picked this book up on a Saturday afternoon, put it down once to eat dinner, then read long into the evning until I was finished. As an author myself, I read a lot of books and Just Call Me Moose is not only one of the best books I have read the past year, it is one of the best ever. The author, Karl Bossi, uses a very artful style to show how a childhood tradgey could suddenly resurface in the most ordinary of situations during his otherwise adventerous life. I found his childhood experiences especially interesting because they rekindled similar long lost memories of my own that left me smiling. You may not have heard of Karl Bossi before reading Just Call Me Moose, but once you've finished reading his book you'll be glad you did. Review by Ray Ryder, Author The Rockwater Mountain Murders and The Spirit of Whiskey River

This is a great story about one individual's journey through life. From the endless freedom of youth, through the tribulations of growing up and having to take life serious. The experiences Karl writes about brought back memories of my own, and I'm sure will touch on some of yours as well. From the hilarious to the extremely sad, it's all there like the story in each of us.

As an Italian/Irish woman growing up in Boston not too far from the neighborhood in Dorchester, although a little before my time, I could relate to the cultural ethnicity and mindset of that era. Karl Bossi takes you on a voyage of his life, stopping off at places where you laugh and cry. He gives you an inside look at a generation of Italian immigrants. Their work ethic, their trials and tribulations, faults and failures. I couldn't put this book down from the time I picked it up. The pictures are great.

This is a terrific book. It brought back so many memories of growing up in Boston. Came to realize that the author's grandparents and my grandparents grew up on the same street and probably knew each other. I have sent the book on to all of the Dorchester Macchi's. Thanks for letting me relive my childhood.

This book is very well written. It brings you into each moment as if you were there. I found it very touching and humorous. A wonderful read!!

Everyone should read it.......

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It chronicles one man's journey in a quest for self-realization from the pre-World War II ethnic neighborhoods of Boston to the jungles of Vietnam. It is written with a style, candor and humor that will capture both the reader's interest and imagination. Additionally, the whole book is delightfully peppered with brilliant linguistic metaphors that will have literary buffs clamoring for more.

I just finished reading this wonderful story of a young man of Italian heritage growing up in Boston. We are fairly close in age and being of Italian heritage also, I was delighted to remember so many of the sayings, foods and customs he described. It seems as though the author was in Viet Nam the same time as my youngest brother. My brother was an 18 year old Marine back then, only there 5 months when he was returned to us in a horrible manner. After many years of surgery, he now makes prosthetics and orthodics and has a wonderful family. Moose was driven by his fathers suicide and a somewhat strong minded mother. Most Italian children can relate to that scenario. If you enjoy reading as much as I do, you will do well to read this book. I decided to read it after finishing Dan Brown's newest book, The Lost Symbol and before I start Mark Levins' Liberty and Tyranny. Actually, it was a perfect fit for my particular reading habits. Karl is a gifted author and I hope he writes another book. Thank you for the smiles and memories!!!!! God Bless America