Publisher's Synopsis
MacDonald grew up in the Irish enclave of South Boston and faced a harsh life in the projects replete with roaches, rats, drugs and violence. "An incendiary, moving book that startles on nearly every page." - KIRKUS "The book leavens tragedy with dashes of humor but preserves the heartbreaking details." - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Anti-violence activist Michael MacDonald grew up within the insular working-class Irish community in "the best place in the world" - the Old Colony projects of South Boston, where he lost four out of eight siblings to violence in the 1970s. He here traces his family history, and relates secret tales of class strife, bigotry, corruption, and vanished lives to recreate a harsh arena of a 1970s ghetto and urban poverty. His single Ma felt blessed when a local politician secured her entrance to the majority-Irish Old Colony project. Once there, the MacDonalds had to prove their mettle against delinquents with shotguns, thus acquiring the patina of craziness necessary for survival.
