All Souls has ratings and reviews. Tasha said: So many people told me I was going to love this book. Most of them were amazed that I had never. first printing, All Souls takes us deep into Michael Patrick MacDonald’s Southie, the way of his own beguiling style, try All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. A breakaway bestseller since it first appeared in , All Souls takes us deep into Michael Patrick MacDonald’s Southie.
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Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Sothie Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. 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 southis, protector and punisher; and Michael’s beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or sll. It’s also a searing portrayal of life in a poor, white neighborhood plagued by violence and crime and deeply in denial about it.
Paperbackpages. Published October 3rd by Ballantine Books first published To see what your friends thought of this book, frkm sign up. To ask other readers questions about All Soulsplease sign up.
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Jul 01, Tasha rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: So many people told me I was going to love this book. Most of them were amazed that I had never read it, having taught at Boston Collegiate Charter School, which was founded in the late 90’s as a response to the alarming death rate among Southie teens. Most of my Collegiate students were from Southie, and they had Southie pride, through and through.
I think that, in many ways, we misunderstood each other — and I did most of the misunderstanding. I had only an inkling of an idea why my students So many people told me I was going to love this book. I had only an inkling of an idea why my students hesitated to welcome me into their community. Now that I have read All SoulsI am so much more aware of why we didn’t click — and much of that has to do with me not fully grasping what it means to grow up in Southie.
He tells his story in a style that is both conversational and intimate. MacDonald is candid about Southie and his upbringing.
He also writes about the loss of four of his siblings to tragedies such as suicide and murder. MacDonald imbues his memoir with stark emotions: I found myself getting caught up in these emotions, empathizing with MacDonald every step of the way.
Beacon Press: All Souls
Everyone who recommended All Souls to me was right. I did love this book, and I cannot think of anyone who douls not benefit from reading it. I initially read this book when it came out, probably 10 years ago.
After seeing the film Black Mass, I decided to listen to the audiobook.
The book is very effectively narrated by the author. To hear this story in his voice, his soft Southie accent an accent which is not always gentlehe tells the story of his family who survived although several of his siblings did not living in one of Southie’s most notorious housing projects, Old Colony.
This was a place that famlly and fire trucks I initially read this book when it came out, probably 10 years ago. This was a place that ambulances and fire trucks often refused to enter. MacDonald’s mother, Helen, a first generation Irish American, is a heroine, not only to her children, but her neighborhood. MacDonald tells the story of poor urban whites, in a way that is never represented.
Through his eyes, we see how residents got caught up in anti-busing violence, which was as much and for some maybe more about resisting lose of control over their neighborhood and choices, as it was about race. In Boston, often children who could have attended nearby schools that were integrated such as the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain aol I lived were arbitrarily bused fa,ily the city. As a supporter of school integration, I saw this as a deliberate strategy to undermine school integration.
MacDonald became a champion of ending gun violence and interracial cooperation. This is a must read for anyone interested in urban populations, education, and many other issues. May 11, Teagan rated it really liked it. fajily
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 apl us have could never imagine. But I found that I was relating my own life to those events that Mr.
I remember the busing problems in South Boston and the evolution of our generation. The f It actually took me quite awhile to finish this book. The first book I ever labeled a souyhie was S. All Souls is going on my “keeper” shelf for the same reasons. Any book that can elicit that kind of emotion long after I’ve closed the book deserves that distinction. And my hat goes off to soithie for writing a book so honest. May 14, Joy rated it it was amazing. Dec 29, Haley rated it liked it.
Sttory book was a strange roller coaster. The first chapter had me riveted, then I slogged through subsequent chapters like a kid taking bitter medicine. I knew it was good for me but my soul felt like it had cramps.
I learned a ton from this book about the complexities of the Southie identity, and the history of the busing movement in Boston, and the book’s ending was fascinating and redeeming. I cannot imagine having such a story to tell, and I appreciate that stkry has been told.
However, having This book was a strange roller coaster. However, having recently read Geoffrey Canada’s memoir on violence growing up in New York, I found MacDonald’s memoir comparatively vapid, often expressing unexamined nostalgia for what were clearly challenging times both for him and for the neighborhood familj profiles.
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
He describes bitter racial tension with the wide eyed innocence of the child he was when busing began in Boston. Consistently referring to violent riots to prevent black kids from entering Southie schools as fun events may make sense in the context sousl a kid’s experience, but in a memoir I wanted more reflection on how this is in fact deeply problematic and disturbing as a variety of community bonding. MacDonald has done great work to improve the lives of people of all races in a plethora of Boston neighborhoods, but he rarely brought any of this experience to the table as he wrote about his early days in Southie.
My frustration with the author both his writing – ok, it’s a memoir, maybe not intended to be a work of Art – and his portrayal of complicated issues as relatively simple mounted as the chapters wore on, and it wasn’t until the trial of his younger brother that I started feeling the intense empathy for him and his neighborhood that I had started with at the beginning of the book.
I’d say read it, it’s good for you. But be forewarned that it is not terribly well crafted or executed, even though some of the stkry he tells are fascinating. Aug 05, Elizabeth K. This book made me realize that one of the reasons I like memoirs so much is that X enjoy reading about other people’s lives and then being judgmental about all the things they are doing wrong.
On the plus side, I liked the personal view on what was going on in urban Boston in the s, especially the personal accounts of the busing riots. I vaguely remember when that was in the news, and I was too young stry quite get what it was all about.
The author is passionate about the neighborhood where This book made me realize that one of the reasons I like memoirs so much is that I enjoy reading about other people’s lives and then being judgmental about all the things they are doing wrong. The author is passionate about the neighborhood where he grew up — in predominantly white, Irish, South Boston — and he wants to fix what’s wrong with it, but in the book he’s not very clear about what he is proposing that would improve things.
I was also suffering from a low-grade embarrassment through most of the book, as he is very detailed about all the ways his mother was so wonderful, and I couldn’t tell if he realized his mother was a terrible parent.
I realize that all parents, to some extent, are a mix I mean I wouldn’t presume to tell him his mother was a terrible parent if he was writing a book about his very excellent mother, BUT I think he was writing a book about what was wrong, sociologically, with the larger neighborhood environment, and it seemed obvious to me but not to him that his mother exemplified a lot of the negative behaviors that contributed to the problems.
Probably only if you have a particular interest in Boston history or urban housing issues, but if you DO, famiky it’s a good read.
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie: Michael Patrick MacDonald: : Books
Jun 06, Yaovi added it. If you are a person that lives in an area like Jamaica plain, Southie, Dorchester or hyde park, this is a good book for you southis read. This book is about how life was around those places a while ago. At first when you look at the books cover, you will think you will not like it because it as pictures of little kids and you might think its about the life of some little kids.
But once you read it, you will like it because its about how life was in those places before before and if you lie reading If you are a person that lives in an area like Jamaica plain, Southie, Dorchester or hyde park, this is a good book for you to read. But once you read it, you will like it because its about how life was in those places before before and if you lie reading books youo could connect your self to, you wil like it even more.
At that time you could have died just by walking down the street. By reading this book you will learn a lot from it so i think everyone should try to read it if they want. Jul 18, Marisa famipy it it was amazing Shelves: 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 This sould completely blew me away. The fear this family lived with every day are almost beyond comprehension – children dying on a regular basis, gang activity, gun violence in the streets, and much more. Though I’ve lived in Boston sinceSouthie is probably the neighborhood I know the least. Storu the history – the racial tensions during busing, Whitey Bulger as unofficial mayor of Southie – still influences much of Boston today in ways that felt familiar.