Book Description
Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"--the Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest concentration of impoverished whites in the U.S. In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. 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 figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide. By turns explosive and touching, All Souls ultimately shares a powerful message of hope, renewal, and redemption.
Customer Reviews:
I mean...........2007-08-25
This guy had a LIFE. I don't envy him and I'm happy that he has come out on top...as far as an "Angela's Ashes"...not even close. I read this after a "true story" about a guy that worked for Whitey Bulger in Southie...I thought this would be another perspective and I looooved Angela's Ashes...I just wasn't hooked to any of the family except for the author...it was an interesting read but not that emotional or moving...again, I'm so glad he made it through his awful life but I don't think I'd make my friends read it...
Winged Cockroaches Drowning in Sprite.......2007-07-07
An ancient slander against the Irish holds that they would sell their own children for money to buy whiskey and damn if that isn't exactly what one of Michael MacDonald's sisters tries to do in "All Souls", MacDonald's didactic tale of coming of age in the Old Colony projects in South Boston. The sister in question wants to sell her child for money to buy crack, not whiskey, but it's the same difference in a case of life imitating stereotype.
In Old Colony, where "everyone is Irish or claims to be", the MacDonald family is, as they might say in Donegal, callanach and barbartha (rowdy and uncivilized), even when measured by shanty project standards. The family matriarch (there is no patriarch), "Ma", had ten children by three men. She supplements the welfare check by playing the accordion in taverns and her kids run wild in the streets, with predictable results-crime, drug addiction, mental illness, and suicide. The residents consider the project "the greatest place in the world", and pretend to live by something called the "Southie Code"-all for one and one for all, don't steal from your neighbor, throw the bums a dime, and above all, don't snitch. Of course, they rob each other blind, sell each other dope, and kill each other with distressing regularity. The only Southie Commandment they all seem to honor is "Thou Shall Not Snitch", since the police are the bad guys and the criminals, who have supplanted the missing fathers, the criminals are the neighborhood heroes.
"All Souls" is brisk and thoughtful. The book has value because it shows that urban poverty will produce the same social plagues regardless of race. It compares favorably to Claude Brown's classic about growing up amid the squalor and violence of Harlem, "Manchild in the Promised Land". High praise indeed. The narrative, however, is seriously flawed. One has to wonder how a five year-old MacDonald can so vividly recall visiting a brother in a mental hospital, or how an eight year-old MacDonald can so meticulously recount the Southie anti-busing riots, when he was "filled with the spirit of rebellion". The writing also suffers from wrenching, abrupt shifts. For example, one brother, an athlete, a boxer on the verge of making it, a man who wouldn't drink beer in public and who admonishes those that do because it sets a bad example for neighborhood kids, this man is suddenly shot dead while robbing an armored car because somehow, unannounced to the reader, he had developed a "major cocaine addiction".
Winged cockroaches drowning in Sprite? Mr. MacDonald finds twenty dead cockroaches (ubiquitous in the project) floating in cup of Sprite
and realizes that they have wings:
"They all floated in the cup with their useless
wings spread out. I stared at them for a good
long time wondering if they didn't know how to
use their wings, or if they just didn't know
they had them, until it was too late to save
themselves".
As metaphors go, that is about as sappy as it gets. Mr. MacDonald did, though, spread his wings and save himself from the Sprite of the project mentality.
A Gripping, Informative Memoir.......2007-04-10
I've never been to Boston, my upbringing was about as suburban as you can get, and I loved "All Souls." It's the memoirs of Michael Patrick MacDonald, who grew up in the largely Irish-Catholic South Boston ("Southie") in the tumultuous 60s and 70s. The Publishers Weekly review summed up the book better than I could, so I will just add some of my own observations.
1.) "All Souls" is instrumental in publicizing a largely-neglected aspect of American history- the Boston busing riots. Aside from a few passing references to it in history textbooks, I'm not aware of any other book where the topic is explored from the viewpoint of someone who was actually there. Basically, William Garrity, a federal judge in Boston, found that the schools in Boston were segregated, and ordered that students should be bused to achieve an equal racial balance. The protest in South Boston was fierce. The people there resented the decision, and threw rocks at the first buses carrying black students into the South Boston area. If students were in a neighborhood assigned to be bused to the predominately black schools, then their parents would send them to a private school if they could afford it. Many times the students would simply drop out. When the busing started, fights broke out between the black and white students. Racism was rampant in South Boston, and many used the "n word" with abandon. Yet not all of the opposition to busing was racially motivated. Mostly the parents were concerned for the safety of their children, and resented the tight-knit community being forcibly torn apart.
2.) Another fascinating aspect of "All Souls" was the code of silence that enveloped Southie until very recently. If there were murders or suicides, you didn't mention it to the police. The myth was "in Southie, everyone looks out for each other." And to a certain extent that was true- it was a tight-knit community. The problem is that when someone was in real trouble, such as getting shot in a botched robbery, no one would come forward to give information that could save lives and rectify the situation. Whitey Bulger was largely responsible for perpetuating the code of silence and the "people look out for each other" myth. And he could say this, since he was comfortably living in a mansion, while most of the people in Southie were in public housing projects.
3.) The author's portrayal of poverty is fascinating and heartbreaking. We can see the effects of the breakdown of the family unit firsthand through the author's eyes. Most families had no father to look after them, and many of the mothers were on welfare. MacDonald's mother, Helen King, or "Ma" as he calls her, is one tough cookie. She managed to raise 10 kids on her own without a father- and the only income she received was from welfare and whatever tips she could scrape by playing the accordion at pubs. Most mothers were not as dedicated as this one, unfortunately. MacDonald never preaches about the issue, and there is much in here for people of all political persuasions to think about.
I love it how the book begins and ends with the author, now a grown man, attending a meeting of the newly-formed South Boston Vigil Group on All-Souls Day. They are people from all over South Boston who are ready to break the silence, and name the names of loved ones lost to murder, drugs, or suicide. Fans of gripping biography, social history, Irish-American history, and American history in general will not want to miss this.
inspiring.......2007-03-29
Even though there are pages upon pages of great reviews for this book, I had to add my two cents.
Having grown up as a unidentified upper-middle class American in the 80's, searching for connection with community and my family's origins, I found this book to be inspiring. Macdonald's recollection of his community and pride in his flawed family induced me to appreciate my own average life, as well as appreciate those full of tragedy.
Amazing, enraging, beautiful, heartbraking,inspiring .......2007-03-26
I can't say enough about this book,it is a must read for every single American citizen that has ever been foolish enough to believe that our so called government does not promote and encourage acts of violence against the most vulnerable communities in this country.
Product Description
First published as a Monumenta Nipponica monograph in 1971, this impressive study chronicles the Hôgen Incident of 1156, the abortive coup dÂ’état that marked the emergence of the military class as a political power in Japan. After being unavailable for years, this photo-reprint of the original edition contains not only the complete English translation of the work, but also virtually all that is needed for fully understanding it: footnotes, essays on the subject matter, appendices with references to other chronicles and histories, and a table of episodes from the various texts.
Book Description
Victory tells the story of a secret U.S. strategy developed in the Reagan White House in early 1982 that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union. In this explosive book, Peter Schweizer provides the riveting details of how the Reagan administration undermined the Soviet economy and its dwindling resource base while subverting the Kremlin’s hold on its global empire.
Customer Reviews:
Only Tells Part of the Story. Once Groundbreaking but is now Incomplete.......2007-06-17
At the time this book was published, the details of Ronald Reagan's warfare against USSR were groundbreaking at the time. Ronald Reagan persuaded the leadership of Saudi Arabia to lower the price of oil, damaging the already-struggling Soviet economy, which needed hard currency through oil exports. "Victory" shows that Reagan applied a sustained pressure against USSR through economic warfare, a huge military build-up, and support of anti-communist groups around the world. Reagan believed that free elections and self-determination had been promised at Yalta but the Soviets broke that promise. Reagan sought to liberate Eastern Europe, starting with Poland, and win the Cold War.
Paul Kengor's excellent 2006 book called "The Crusader" also tells this story but, I believe, is better documented (usable footnotes) and has important recent information only recently declassified. Therefore, I recommend "The Crusader." Ronald Reagan was the right man at the right time, and the Cold War would not have ended when it did without Reagan. Reagan has not received enough credit.
However, books like "Victory" and "The Crusader" only tell part of the story. Ronald Reagan himself tells a different story in his autobiography "An American Life" and "The Reagan Diaries." Reagan emphasizes his friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev, whom Reagan affectionately calls "Gorby," and together they achieved a peaceful end to the cold war. I believe that this part of the story is being vigorously suppressed by the rigid neo-cons. The truth is that Reagan's skillful diplomacy with "Gorby" was as important as his sustained pressure before "Gorby" came to power. Read Reagan's autobiography and diaries to learn this from Reagan himself.
At Gorbachev's friendly invitation, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at Moscow State University and received a standing ovation. Reagan was a celebrity, and the Great Communicator sold Gorbachev and the Russian people on free markets and freedom. When a reporter asked Reagan if USSR was still "the evil empire," Reagan replied, "No. I was talking about another time, another era."
Gorbachev received the first ever Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, at Ronald Reagan's urging, which "is bestowed upon those who have made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Freedom Award recognizes the courage of an individual who has promoted freedom around the world. Each year, the Foundation presents the Freedom Award to an individual who embodies President Reagan's lifelong belief that one man or woman truly can make a difference."
Mikhail Gorbachev also won the Nobel Peace Prize and was named Time Magazine's Man of the Decade for his role. Yet Gorbachev never intended to destroy the Communist Party. He hoped, instead, to save it through reforms. Without Reagan initially applying pressure the way he did and pushing freedom in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Empire would not have unraveled when it did.
Recent Reagan biographies by John Patrick Diggins and Richard Reeves, drawing on the latest research, also emphasize Reagan's skillful diplomacy and a peaceful end to the Cold War. Reagan sold Gorbachev on his ideals and pushed Gorbachev to go further with his Perestroika and Glasnost reforms." Reagan was so sincere and good-natured. He believed that, if he and Gobachev could just sit down and talk, they could responsibly make the world safer from the danger of nuclear war. Reagan was so charming and persuasive that Gorbachev trusted him, then the Soviet Empire unraveled under him!
Read a book like "Victory" or "The Crusader," and then read "The Reagan Diaries" and Reagan's autobiography "An American Life" to learn the whole story. Also read "Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History" by John Patrick Diggins, "From the Cold War to a New Era" by Don Oberdorfer, "The Cold War: A New History" by John Lewis Gaddis, "President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination" by Richard Reeves, Paul Lettow's "Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons," the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lenin's Tomb" by David Remnick, and "Reagan and Gorbachev" by Jack Matlock, Reagan's top advisor and ambassador to USSR.
Academicians Beware..........2007-04-09
This book contains neither a Table of Contents nor an Index. If you are planning on using this book for research, I recommend going elsewhere.
Behind the scene look of the Reagan Administration.......2006-11-07
An awesome disclosure of the financial planning to defeat Russia. Combined with the military weapons strategy, it demonstrates how the Reagan administration defeated Russia. Fascinating reading and an insight on the travel and personal sacrifices that were made to accomplish this.
"We Win - They Lose!".......2006-05-11
This book is one of the best ever written on public policy. It gives concrete examples of how to wage a resource-based campaign against an opponent. While the context is the U.S. - Soviet campaign of the 1980's, the same principles could be used in political campaigns, cities versus surburbs situations, state versus state economic development, legal disputes, etc.
When Ronald Reagan was trying to get Richard Allen to join his campaign team in the late 1970's, Allen asked him what his strategy was for dealing with the Soviet Union. Reagan's response, "We Win - They Lose!" It was seen then (and now by some pointy-headed leftist pundits) as simplistic in the extreme and Reagan was seen as extremely dangerous for pursuing it.
This book deals not so much with the strategy but the tactics in carrying it out. Specifically the idea was to destroy the Soviet empire by raising the cost of that empire while reducing the benefits of that empire. The trick was to use low cost (to the U.S.) tools to provide ruinous results (to the Soviets). In short, Economic Warfare.
For instance, early on the Reagan Administration found that Western European bankers were providing low-cost loans to Soviet client states based on the idea that Soviet gold reserves would insure the loans. When the Reagan Treasury Department did a study that discovered that there were more loans outstanding than gold reserves to cover them, that information was given to the bankers and the empire subsidy stopped. Low cost to us (a few million dollars for a study) yielded a high cost to them (billions in additional interest payments).
Over and over this book gives examples of Bill Casey at the CIA and how he would use these tactics to make the strategy work-- opposing the Soviet natural gas pipeline into Western Europe, secretly funding Poland's Solidarity Labor movement, bleeding the Soviet war machine in Afghanistan, convincing the Saudis to drop the price of oil at exactly the right moment so that Soviet natural gas reserves became worthless, etc. The list goes on and on.
Reagan's opponents said before the collapse of Communism that this "Reagan Doctrine" wouldn't work. Afterwards they gave the credit to Gorbachev' reform efforts and the 1950's containment theory. But unlike the Reagan Doctrine, those were just strategies. As too many businesses have discovered, long-term strategies have a way of being swamped by short-term considerations.
This book shows that Reagan's strategy in the hands of a skilled tactician like Casey was what doomed the Soviet Union. It makes for fascinating reading.
Only in America.......2006-04-09
This is one of the two best books I've read thus far about the Reagan Administration. The other was "Revolution: The Reagan Legacy" by Martin Anderson. That book took us through the inner workings of the Reagan White House as seen from the perspective of a non-political scholar who just happened to be an insider at the time. This book tells the story of the Reagan Administration's seven year struggle to restore America's military strength while at the same time undermining the Soviet Economy and sapping Soviet strength so as to hasten the demise of the Soviet Union. Boring as all that may seem; this book reads more like a spy thriller than a history book since it primarily focuses on the extraordinary efforts of one man, William Casey, Reagan's Director of Central Intelligence (DCI).
About all I knew about Bill Casey before reading this book was that he was the secretive head of the CIA who had a tendency to mumble (Reagan said he was the only man in the CIA who didn't need a scrambler.), that some people thought he was the man behind the Iran-Contra Affair, and that he died of a malignant brain tumor before he could be called to testify about Iran-Contra. Now I see him as a truly great American hero who played a vital role in the demise of the Soviet Union. In fact, after reading this book, I'm almost convinced that it wouldn't and couldn't have been done without him. As the author says, Reagan had the vision and pointed the direction, but it was men like Bill Casey who made it happen.
This, then, is a great read about an unsung American hero. After reading it you will understand in some detail the grand scale of Reagan's seven year plan to restore America's strength; to re-establish America's reputation as a trustworthy ally; to undermine and stall the Soviet economy; to support and encourage those struggling against Soviet oppression behind the iron curtain; and to aid those fighting against the expansion of the Soviet Empire. You will also see how that plan was implemented and will most likely marvel at the efforts of Bill Casey who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the President's policies a reality. Casey, like the President, was clearly the right man, in the right place, at the right time.
In the end, you will also wonder how it can be possible that Reagan's political opponents in the United States have been able to assign the lion's share of credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union to the Soviet Premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, rather than to America's President, Ronald Reagan. As the author so aptly points out, "[It is] a most curious development, giving the vanquished more credit than the victor." Only in American politics would such a thing be possible.
Book Description
This book is a reexamination of the Persian Gulf War by a number of academic and military historians to determine what we did right, what we did wrong, and how our performance could have been improved. This study addresses the questions: Why did the war happen? Was the Gulf War a vindication of Vietnam? Did the American military really learn anything from the war in Vietnam? Did they really adapt? What did the Allies actually win in the Gulf War, if anything? Finally, have we learned anything from the Gulf War? Some authors conclude that in retrospect many analysts have become convinced that despite its military successes the United States garnered little of worth from the Gulf War. Others believe a great deal was achieved, and some have withheld final judgement.
Average customer rating:
- Looking at Life with Eagle Vision: Are present belifs holding you back?
- Packed with Wonderful Wisdom!
|
Looking at Life with Eagle Vision: Are present beliefs holding you back?
Eleanor Foland
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Job Hunting & Careers
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ASIN: 0595414141 |
Book Description
Having been born in an era when there seemed to be a "right" way to do things and authority was not to be questioned, Eleanor noticed at an early age that she "knew" things that did not conform to what was being taught; so after years of trying to conform, she began her own search for her truth. Since more information is now available with the invention of TV and Internet, she has been using those mediums to learn more about where some beliefs originated.
Customer Reviews:
Looking at Life with Eagle Vision: Are present belifs holding you back?.......2007-01-12
I really enjoyed this book! It made me realize that there are alot of things that I had always accepted as truth, just because I had be told what to believe by an authority figure, instead of deciding for myself.
Interesting reading!
Packed with Wonderful Wisdom!.......2006-10-12
Eleanor is a wise and beautiful soul. Reading "Looking at Life with Eagle Vision," I felt as if I were sitting across the kitchen table from her, hearing her share the benefit of her life's experience and wisdom. If only everyone knew what a contribution they could make to the world's enlightenment no matter their age!! God bless you Eleanor and thank you for sharing your years of life experience, your thoughts, and beliefs with the rest of us. Congratulations on a wonderful book!
Product Description
This book is for the passionate Eagles fan that bleeds Eagles green. Looking Back . . . 75yrs of EAGLES HISTORY is a unique and inclusive book about the EAGLES. It contains the most comprehensive collection of actual sports pages from both the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News newspapers, which covered the Eagles games for the past 75 years. You can review every season played, from 1933 to the 2007 season, with complete yearly stats and a featured sports page from either the Philadelphia Inquirer or Daily News newspapers from each season. There is a chapter that provides you the complete Eagles All-Time Roster, including every major individual NFL award received. You can review all of the Eagles' First Draft selections of each year. Also included is a complete listing of all the various training camp locations. In addition, this book contains a pictorial history of the evolution of the various Eagles uniforms. If you love uniforms you will also find, in chronological order, every jersey number and the corresponding players who wore them over the past 75 years. Monday Night Football has been good to the Eagles. In the book you will see all of the Eagles' MFL scores, and corresponding sports pages. As an added bonus, you will read about some interesting Eagles memories from former and current players, Chuck Bednarik, Tom Brookshier, Billy Ray Barnes, Brian Dawkins, Pete Retzlaff, Donovan McNabb, Tommy McDonald, Garry Cobb, Jon Runyan and local sportscasters/writers, Ray Didinger, Michael Barkann, Lou Tilley, Jody McDonald, Sam Carchidi, Bill Campbell and many more including memories from our fans. Looking Back...75yrs of EAGLES HISTORY will not only be a great resource for the avid fan, but also a great commemorative collectors' book.
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Looking for Eagles
Janet Lembke
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1558210776 |
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Looking for the Pale Eagle
Stephen Meats
Manufacturer: Bob Woodley Memorial Press, the
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 093939118X |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), published by Association of Arab-American University Graduates and Institute of Arab Studies on March 22, 1997. The length of the article is 737 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Eagle in the Desert: Looking Back on U.S. Involvement in the Persian Gulf War. (book reviews)
Author: Vassilios Damiras
Publication:
Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ) (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1997
Publisher: Association of Arab-American University Graduates and Institute of Arab Studies
Volume: v19
Issue: n2
Page: p82(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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- Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.
- An Hour Before Daylight : Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood
- Angel By My Side
- Ball Four: Twentieth Anniversary Edition
- Being Martha: The Inside Story of Martha Stewart and Her Amazing Life
- Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
- Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story
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