Synopses & Reviews
What defines Boston? Its history? Its landmarks? Its sports teams and shrines?
Perhaps the question should be: Who defines Boston? From Henry David Thoreau to Dennis Lehane, Boston has been beloved by many of America’s greatest writers, and there is no better group of men and women to capture the heart and soul of the Hub. In Our Boston, editor Andrew Blauner has collected both original and reprinted essays from Boston area writers past and present, all celebrating the city they love. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, they responded to his call to celebrate this great city by providing almost all brand-new works.
From Mike Barnicle to Pico Iyer, Susan Orlean to George Plimpton, Leigh Montville to Lesley Visser, Pagan Kennedy to James Atlas, here is a collection of the best essays by our best writers on one of America’s greatest cities.
Review
"Like the remarkable city to which they pay tribute, the pieces assembled in this book are diverse, engrossing, illuminating, emotional, funny — and glorious. Anyone who loves or has ever loved Boston will want a copy." — Claire Messud, author of
The Emperors Children and
The Woman Upstairs"Our Boston gives us skilled, knowing, warm, observant writers who embrace the city personally, pointedly, suggestively, and in so doing, tell us so very much about our country, ourselves. Their Boston is a telling reminder of a nation's story." — Robert Coles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Children of Crisis and The Call of Service
"Read this book if you have ever lived in Boston and want to remember the unique pull of the place; if you've never lived in Boston and want to understand its unusual charm; if you currently live in Boston and want to see reflected in these pages a metropolis that thrums with innovation and warmth at the same time." — Lauren Slater, author of Opening Skinners Box
"This book is for anyone who remembers the Combat Zone and Filene's Basement and the old, un-air-conditioned Garden, who knows where they were in the summer of '67 and the winter of '78 and the fall of '04, who waited in line for Steve's Smoosh-ins in Somerville and still goes to the original Dunkin' Donuts in Quincy. It's also for anyone who loves great writing and learning about the lives of great writers. It's an absolute gem of a book — as perfect as a Legal lobster dinner or a Toscanini's sundae." — Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus and the New York Times bestseller Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top
"A distinguished, eloquent, and deeply felt testimony evoking not only the shadow on our hearts, but also the resolve and vitality of this great American city." — Alec Wilkinson, author of The Ice Balloon
"Our Boston is a stellar anthology, a love letter to a resilient city penned by an all-star team of writers, from Lehane to Updike to Orlean, among others. This book is as full of history and surprises as the city itself." — Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers
"A collection of nonfiction pieces by an impressive array of writers...A mustread for everyone who already cares about Boston and anyone looking beyond the tourist guides for a more intimate view of this iconic American city."--Booklist "The quality of the writing is uniformly high...worthy and moving."--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
An anthology of essays about Boston and what it means to the contributors, including Susan Orlean, Kevin Cullen, Mike Barnicle, Pico Iyer, and many more.
About the Author
Andrew Blauner is the founder of Blauner Books Literary Agency. He is the editor of Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference; Brothers: 26 Stories of Love and Rivalry; and Central Park: An Anthology. He is also co-editor of Anatomy of Baseball. A graduate of Brown University and Columbia Business School, he is a member of PEN and the National Book Critic Circle.
Table of Contents
Running Toward the Bombs 1 Kevin Cullen
Walking on American Avenue 30
Mike Barnicl
Pride or Prejudice 40
André Aciman
The Former Legends 46
E. M. Swift
A Boys Boston 58
Charles McGrath
Things in Threes 66
Madeleine Blais
Getting Over Boston 78
George Howe Colt
Accents, or The Missing R 88
Susan Orlean
Bonfire of the Memories 91
David M. Shribman
A City Not on a Hill 102
Joan Wickersham
Our Chowder 108
David Michaelis
Boston, 1972 123
Katherine A. Powers
Transplants 132
Jabari Asim
Diamonds (and Dugouts) Are a
Girls Best Friend 147
Lesley Visser
Next Stop: Back Bay 157
Hugh Delehanty
Medora Goes to the Game 169
George Plimpton
The Everything Bagel 185
Leslie Epstein
Wounded, Bostons Heart Remains Strong 188
Bud Collins
So You Want to Be in Pictures 194
Nell Scovell
Americas Brain 205
Israel Horovitz
Front Row on the Charles 209
Shira Springer
Messing With the Wrong City 218
Dennis Lehane
Boston à la Carte 222
Susan Sheehan
The Athens of America 233
James Atlas
Bothering Bill Russell 239
Leigh Montville
From Somewhere 250
Tova Mirvis
Boston Marriage 259
Pagan Kennedy
Reading Around Boston 268
Scott Stossel
“Souvenir of the Ancient World” 280
Robert Pinsky
Boston Sports: Something for Everyone to Love—
and Complain About 282
Bill Littlefield
The Landscape of Home 290
Carlo Rotella
Thinking Locally, Acting Globally 301
Neil Swidey
Jamaica Pond: My Walden 306
Jessica Shattuck
Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu 314
John Updike
The Classroom of the Real 332
Pico Iyer
This Is the Way I Point My View 336
Sally Taylor
Acknowledgments 338
Contributors Biographies 344