Synopses & Reviews
Michael Patrick MacDonald's memoir
All Souls told the story of the loss of four of his siblings to the violence, poverty, and gangsterism of Irish South Boston. In his numerous speaking engagements ever since, MacDonald is frequently asked, "How did you get out?"
Easter Rising is the searing answer to that question. Desperate to escape the "normal" route of violence and drugs that surrounds him, MacDonald finds his identity in the burgeoning punk rock movement. His forays into the Boston underground and New York's East Village pull him into the club scene vortex of Johnny Rotten, Mission of Burma, and the Clash.
At nineteen MacDonald heads to Paris and then London. Running out of money, he contacts his Irish immigrant grandfather who once accused him of "worshipping the devil with the punk rocks." Grandpa offers a loan, but only if Michael promises to visit Ireland. It is this journey "home" that offers MacDonald a chance at reconciliation with his tumultuous past.
Review
"Though the author, now a social activist, emerged physically unscathed from his upbringing, the emotional scars he bears are undeniable." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"MacDonald deftly captures the thrilling and surprising initial relevance of the underground culture, shrugging off the more juvenile aspects that would soon pervade its aesthetic." Booklist
Synopsis
This follow-up to his memoir All Souls tells of MacDonald's desperate need to escape the "normal" route of violence and drugs that surrounded him in Boston. He chronicles how he found his identity in the burgeoning New York punk rock movement of the 1970s.
Synopsis
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.