Rising of the Moon [Mass Market Paperback]

William Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1987

Anticipating an enterprising career in America until a fiery rebel murders a British agent in 1916 Boston, Irish immigrant Tom Tracy realizes he must choose between his American life and the fight for freedom in his homeland. Reprint. NYT.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A beautiful, impassioned Zionist, a rising young politician, and an Irish rebel set sail from Boston harbor in a ship loaded with guns and ammunition to play their part in the Irish rebellion of Easter Sunday, 1916. Rich in historical detail, The Rising of the Moon gives us a Boston teeming with life and spirit, a Boston invigorated by the influx of immigrants, people like the Irish, all fighting for a place in the new world. Martin is an accomplished writer, effectively contrasting these Irish Americans with their kin in the old country, kept alive by the spirit of a centuries-old rebellion: two groups that for all their differences, unite for a common cause. This is a stimulating and moving tale, full of action and passion, and sure to have wide appeal. Recommended. Lydia Burruel Johnson, Mesa P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Harvard: mention the name and you'll hear about academic excellence and overweening arrogance, about high-minded ambition and Harvard indifference, about pathways to power and people who think that power should be theirs simply because of where they went to college, about "the fellowship of scholars and educated men and women" and "the typical Harvard snob." And if this was a multiple choice test, I'd check all of the above, because Harvard is a place of great contradictions, which create conflict, which creates drama. That's why I decided to write about the place. And I went there, too. And my son goes there now. When he applied, I gave him this bit of advice, drawn from experience: "Some guys never get over the fact that they didn't get into Harvard. And some guys never get over the fact that they did. I don't want you to be either kind." But back when I was a senior at a Catholic high school in Boston, there was nowhere else that I wanted to go, because, quite simply, Harvard was the best you could ask for. That's what we'd heard, anyway. I arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1968. I had been assigned to Thayer Hall, a century-old dormitory in the Yard. It was my introduction to that world of history, tradition, and excellence. I stepped into my room and was greeted by? a three-foot pile of trash. Of all the rooms in all the dormitories in Harvard Yard, mine was the one that they had forgotten to clean. Or so I thought. That evening, my freshman education in the imperfections of even such an august institution as Harvard had begun. It would culminate on an April morning when I stood on the steps of that freshman dormitory and watched phalanxes of police eject student demonstrators from University Hall. It wasn't a tranquil time to go to college, but it wasn't boring, either. And for someone who knew that he wanted to pursue the business of story telling (in my application essay, I had written that I wanted to be like David Lean, the director of Lawrence of Arabia and other Hollywood epics), there was much to be learned of human drama as I watched disputes between students and administration spiral into outright conflict. But it wasn't all politics. Those of us who were not part of the rebellion developed a healthy cynicism about the rebels, the administration, the whole thing. Then we got on with out lives. When my son started at Harvard, I told him that after four years there, he should feel many emotions, and one of them should be exhaustion? from trying to partake of as much as he could at Harvard. The advice was drawn from experience. I majored in English, a good major for someone with my tastes. I directed plays, including "The Taming of the Shrew." I took courses from the so-called "great men" of the faculty like John Kenneth Galbraith, and from future greats like Stephen Jay Gould. I was tear-gassed, through no fault of my own. I worked as a research assistant for visiting history professors. I got food poisoning from an infamous tray of scalloped potatoes in the freshman union. I interviewed movie stars like James Stewart when they came to the Hasty Pudding, then wrote about them in the Harvard Independent. I tutored local kids in the Harvard Upward Bound program. I worked dorm crew and cleaned hundreds of toilets, including the one in Franklin D. Roosevelt's suite. I wrote an honors thesis in English about John Ford, a movie director. And I benefited from Harvard's generous financial aid policies. In the summers, I worked in the Boston construction industry, and I used to say that I learned more about life on a two-foot plank thirteen stories above Boston than I ever did at Harvard, but I don't think that's true. Harvard was more fun, and the place was good to me?. so good, in fact, that when I got married a year after graduation, my wife and I decided to have our reception in the courtyard of Kirkland House, the undergraduate residence where I'd lived. Then my wife and I headed west, t --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ivy Books (November 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804102112
• ISBN-13: 978-0804102117
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,797,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In his boyhood, William Martin loved what he later called "big stories on broad canvases." He read the novels of C.S. Forester, Dickens, and western author Will Henry. He sat transfixed by the big movies of the early sixties. So after college he went to Hollywood to try his hand at screenwritng but quickly found that his instincts were better suited to novels. His first, "Back Bay," introduced treasure hunter Peter Fallon in a new kind of adventure that joined the contemporary mystery-thriller to the historical novel. In his nine novels (including four best selling Peter Fallon adventures), Martin has tracked national treasures across the landscape of the American imagination, chronicled the lives of the great and the anonymous in American history, and brought to life legendary American locations, from "Cape Cod" to "Annapolis" to the "City of Dreams." He has also written an award-winning PBS documentary on the life of Washington and a cult-classic horror movie, has contributed book reviews to the Boston Globe, and has taught writing across the country, from the Harvard Extension School to the famous Maui Writers Conference. He lives near Boston with his wife and has three grown children. His work has established him as a "storyteller whose smoothness matches his ambition."(Publisher's Weekly) And he was the recipient of the 2005 New England Book Award, given to "an author whose body of work stands as a significant contribution to the culture of the region."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too bad its out of print, October 12, 1999

By 

Charles Andrews (Fort Worth, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rising Of The Moon (Hardcover)

Publishers make strange decisions on books that I'll never understand. "The Rising of the Moon" is William Martin's story of Irish immigrants in Boston and the struggle towards independence of the Irish Republic. The story has a steady metered pace about it that causes reflection on past events and current day events. While Mr. Martin may not agree, the struggle for independence in Ireland mirrors the American struggle a century and a half before, but also foreshadows the struggles of the Palestinians for a home land today.

The book explores the deep nationalistic sentiments that drive a people towards independence. Demonstrating how passionate those drives may be and how at times those passions cause unintended pain and grief that time can't erase.

I think he toys with the notion that the end does not always justify the means, but in the end leaves the reader to decide. At times a very disturbing book, yet always captivating and provocative, the ending will surprise you

This book should not have been removed from the shelves of bookstores, The novice William Martin reader will be deprived of perhaps his most personal essay on independence, the central theme in his works. For those of you who have enjoyed the historical tails of Martin, make the extra effort to find a copy of "Rising". I promise you won't be disappointed. You will be challenged though.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXTRAORDINARY!!!!!, August 25, 2000

By 

J. A. Clark (Rensselaer, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rising of the Moon (Mass Market Paperback)

You need a thesaurus solely dedicated to the word "Remarkable" for a review to give its justice to "The Rising of the Moon". Martin's descriptions of early 20th century Boston far surpass similar works such as "The Alienist" or "Ironweed". Wonderful portrayals of the Irish immigrants struggle for acceptance and political power in Boston, the city that gave birth to our countries ideals. One mans fanatical struggle for those same ideals in his mother land, Ireland, eventually bring these exiting characters to the shores of Ireland to fight it's own battle for independence from British rule. This book should be cone-shaped because it moves at supersonic speed. The first chapter grabs you hard, and each following chapter is better then it's predecessor. When you reach the final 200 pages, prepare yourself, go to the bathroom, get something to drink, make sure your comfortable, because I guarantee, you won't want to move until you've finished. Nothing in this book is predictable. It's well plotted and the reader will be thrilled with surprises to the very end that will leave the reader emotionally drained. Even though this book was 471 pages, Martin is one of the few story tellers that has the ability to cary a book for 1000 pages and the reader is still crying for more. This was the best book I've read all summer, and found it's way into my top 20 books of all time. A publishing felony is being committed everyday this book remains out-of-print.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and Suspenseful, October 17, 2002

By 

Ryan (Stockbridge, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rising of the Moon (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Rising of the Moon" is a fantastic book for those who enjoy romance and action all in one. It takes place in Boston in the year 1916. William Martin really makes history come alive. Irish immigrant Tom Tracy is trying to become a successful politician, while also trying to have a love live with his Jewish girlfriend, Rachel Levka. But when Tom's cousin, Padraic Starr comes to Boston, Tom has to make a decision on having a safe life in Boston, or avenging his father's death back in Ireland. Rachel must choose between her love for Tom Tracy, and her desire for Padraic Starr.