All Souls - December 2007

All Souls - December 2007
Now Reading: All Souls: A family story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald Copies are available for checkout. No meeting required. Just take this book as a suggested read this month and enjoy. Chime in with your thoughts on these questions by posting comments.This book an eye-opener to the truth about the “best place in the world”: the Old Colony housing project of Southie in the 70's. If you grew up here you've heard or been a part of the mandatory bussing in the 70's, and heard all about Southie & the Irish mob. If you are not here is a chance to catch up on what Southie was like back in the day, from someone who was there.Questions to ask as you read:1. Describe the tone in which All Souls opens. How does it shift throughout the memoir?2. In his opening chapter MacDonald speaks of the seductiveness and threat of Southie myths. Describe those myths. In what ways is All Souls an act of demythologizing, and to what extent does it romanticize Southie?3. What distinguishes Ma? How is she at once recognizable and unique? What do we learn about the challenges facing, and the resources available to a single mother in poverty?4. To what sort of masculinity do the young men of the neighborhood aspire without father figures? How do Whitey Bulger and his ilk exploit and perpetuate this absence?5. What contributed to the intolerance exhibited by many in Southie during busing, and how did it differ in kind and degree from racism elsewhere?6. What does Southie mean to MacDonald at the close of the memoir?