QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS, PATTI SMITH, MISSION OF BURMA, LIQUID LIQUID, Joy Division, ESG, The Slits ... OK alphabetical: Abbysinians, afrika bambaataa, alternative TV, althea and donna, angie stone, ann peebles, anthony B, BOWIE, buju, ashford and simpson, the association, augustus pablo, avengers, B52s, babatunde olatunji, BAD BRAINS, bah samba, barrington levy, barry white, bauhaus, basement 5, belle and sebastion, beth gibbons, bettie wright, bhagavan das, big mama thornton, big maybelle, big youth, bill withers, billie holiday, billy paul, birthday party, bjork, black flag, black uhuru, blondie, bobbie gentry, bobby darrin, bobby vinton, The Bodysnatchers, bootsy, brand new heavies, brian ENO, bush tetras, buzzcocks, byron lee, cab calloway, cabaret voltaire, susan cadogan, cameo, candi staton, carole king, the carpenters, nick cave, a certain ratio, chaka demus and pliers, charles mingus, cheryl lynn, chieftains, CHIC, chi-lites, cibo matto, the circle jerks, THE CLASH (even "Rock the Casbah"), the cocteau twins, common, The Cramps, crass, culture (Two Sevens Clash), the cure, curtis mayfield, the damned, dead boys, dead kennedys, death comet crew, de-lite, degrees of motion, del byzantines, delroy wilson, delta 5, dennis brown, department S, desmond dekker, devo, Dictators, dizzee rascal, donovan, doug e. fresh, dr, alimantado, earth wind & fire, EATER, echo and the bunnymen, eric b. and rakim, exstacy passion and pain, eek-a-mouse, ella fitzgerald, elvis (both), emmylou harris, the emotions, erma franklin, essential logic, esther phillips, etta, fad gadget, the fall, family stand, FLIPPER, first choice, flux of pink indians, freddie mcgregor, freeze, fugazi, gang of four, gen X, GEORGE JONES, GIL SCOTT HERON, gillian welch, gladys knight, glen washington, gordon lightfoot, the go! team, grace jones, grandmaster flash, gray, gregory isaacs, hank williams, harold melvin and the bluenotes, The heptones, Hildegard of Bingen, horace andy, human league, Husker Du, ian dury, IGGY AND THE STOOGES, indeep, inez and charlie foxx, irma thomas, iron and wine, isley bros., jackie mittoo, jackie wilson, the jacksons, jah shaka, jah wobble, james white (contortions), jamaroquai, the jam, janis joplin, jayne county, jeanne moreau, joe gibbs, johnny mathis, joni mitchell, judy nylon (PAL Judy and "Snatch"), julie london, junior byles, junior murvin, junior reid, kenny rogers, kilslug, killing joke, KING TUBBY, kleenex, kool and the gang, kraftwerk, krishna das, labelle, laPeste, lavern baker, lauryn hill, lee scratch perry, leona buckles, leonard cohen, liliput, Lloyd price, lonnie liston smith, loose joints, love unlimited, luciano, luscious jackson, M, maceo & the macks, madness, magazine, man parrish, the manhattans, maria callas, marianne faithfull, marlena shaw, marvin gaye, mary j. blige, massive attack, maximum joy, mc lyte, the melodians, midge ure, mighty diamonds, the mighty two, mikey dread, miles davis, mo-dettes, monsoon, morphine, mos def, mtume, musique, new age steppers, new edition, new order, nick drake, nico, nicola conte, ni**er kojak and liza, nina simone, the normal, the notwist, the o'jays, o.m.d., otis redding, the outlets, parliament, peaches and herb, Perfect, peter tosh, pigbag, P.I.L., pogues, poison girls, THE POP GROUP, portishead, the postal service, the pretenders, primal scream, prince buster, public enemy, PYLON, radiohead, raincoats, ramones, ravi shankar, THE REZILLOS, richard hell, richie rich, rod stewart, raahsan roland kirk, romeo void, rose royce, ROXANNE SHANTE, ROXY MUSIC, ROY AYERS, rufus and chaka khan, the ruts, sarah vaughn, schneider tm, scritti politti, secret affair, the sequence, sergio mendes, sex pistols, SHAM 69, shonen knife, silvio rodriguez, siouxsie, sister nancy, sister sledge, sizzla, THE SLITS, SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, smiths, THE SONICS, sonic youth, soul 2 soul, sounds of blackness, staple singers, stevie wonder, stiff little fingers, stranglers, style council, suba, sugar minott, sugar pie desanto, sugarcubes, sugarhill gang, the swell maps, sylvester, T REX, taana gardner, talkin heads, tammy wynette, a taste of honey, teddy pendergrass, TELEVISION, temptations, ten city, tenor saw, the the, thievery corporation, third world, this heat, timi yuro, timmy thomas, todd terry, tom jones, tommy mccook, tom robinson, toots and the maytals, trinity, UB40, Ultravox, Unnatural Axe, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, viv goldman, was (not was), Wayne County and the Electric Chairs, the wierdos, WIRE, XRAY SPEX, X, xtc, Yardbirds
Movies
The Corporation, Nil By Mouth, The Battle of Algiers, Les Enfants du Paradis, Rocco and His Brothers, Salt of the Earth, Grapes of Wrath, Claudine, Liam, The Butcher Boy, My Life As a Dog, Capote, all Ken Loach, especially The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Spike Lee's CROOKLYN, Big Fish, Dancer in the Dark.
Books
writers: Blake; Whitman; Upton Sinclair; William Kennedy; Sherman Alexie; Dorothy Allison; Claude Brown's "Manchild in the Promised Land"; Piri Thomas's "Down These Mean Streets"; Patrick McCabe; lots of non fiction / history ... A People's History of the UNited States by Howard Zinn; Luc Sante's "Low Life"; Capote's short story "A Christmas Memory"; Alan Sillittoe, Steinbeck; Beckett ...
To answer an oft-asked question, the only Southie gangster book I endorse is "Black Mass." Also, on a broader historical scale, my friend TJ English's "Paddywhacked." The rest are gratuitous, and glorify some pretty sick Sh*t. Not really into the gangster deese-and-dose tough-guy thing.
Heroes
Mother Jones, James Connolly, The Molly Maguires, Cindy Sheehan, Senator Murtha, Michael Moore; of course Mandela. On the religious front: Hildegaard of Bingen, MLK, Dorothy Day, Archbishop Oscar Romero.
About me: Author of All Souls: A Family Story From Southie (Ballantine, October 2000; New Edition, Beacon Press October 2007), American Book Award, New England Literary Lights Award, The Myers Outstanding Book Award administered by the Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America.
Currently finishing the screenplay of All Souls for director Ron Shelton.
Second book, "Easter Rising: A Memoir Of Roots And Rebellion," out in paperback NOW, published by Houghton Mifflin.
Awarded an Anne Cox Chambers Fellowship at the The MacDowell Colony, a Bellagio Center Fellowship through the Rockefeller Foundation, residencies at Blue Mountain Center and Djerassi Artist Residency Program.
Currently lives in Brooklyn.
To order MPM's books, please click the following links:
To have Michael Patrick MacDonald come speak to your school or organization, contact his
Speakers Bureau, The American Program Bureau., The American Program Bureau.
New Edition, All Souls, Beacon Press, 2007
EASTER RISING PAPERBACK ... OUT NOW!
Praise for All Souls:
An incendiary, moving book that startles on nearly every page.... MacDonalds nimble prose and detailed recall of grim times long past make for luminous reading; his hard won conception of how ghettoized poverty spawns localized violence, and the dignity he brings to lives snuffed out in chaos, gives All Souls a moral urgency usually lacking in current memoir or crime prose. A remarkable work. -- KIRKUS (starred review)
All Souls is the written equivalent of an Irish Wake, where revelers dance and sing the dead persons praises. In that same style, the book leavens tragedy with dashes of humor but preserves the heartbreaking details. -- BRENT STAPLES, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
All Souls grasps your emotions from the first pages and wont let go. -- HOWARD ZINN, AUTHOR "A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES"
Praise for EASTER RISING:
"A journey that is as inspiring as it is haunting." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Starred Review)
"A brave, heartbreaking piece of truth!" -- PATTI SMITH
"At pivotal moments, MacDonald's prose--muscular and insistently alive--quivers like a fist about to take a swing. Absorption in the events of one's adolescence is rare in contemporary memoirs (which seem to favor clear-eyed, 'adult' recollections), and refreshing." -- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"MacDonald is a fine writer, with a terrific ear for dialogue and a gift for creating compelling scenes. An instructive, lively tale, told in a voice that's well worth hearing!" -- WASHINGTON POST
ON NPR AFFILIATE WNYC'S MUSIC PROGRAM, "SOUNDCHECK" WITH JOHN SCHAEFFER THIS WEEK:
ONGOING SERIES AS BOSTON GLOBE GUEST OP ED COLUMNIST:
I read your book last year as a Senior in high school. I didn't have it as hard as you did growing up, as I come from a high middle class family, but your book has made me much more headstrong about finishing my own. I would love to get some tips from you about writing, if possible. I understand your very busy. Thank you for taking the time to write down all that you have gone through, so that many people all over can read how life is in places like Southie.
It's been such a long time, I hope things are well with you - you are in my thoughts more often than you know. I will be so happy when you when you make it to London - any plans?
Sending the biggest hug I can fit in a MySpace message, love Soo xxx
Thanx so much for adding me hunn.. I am reading your All Souls in college for english.. I'm on the 4th chapter and i love it so far.. I know i'm much younger than you but we shared some similar things growing up.. Well I know you must be busy so don't worry about writing back, I appreciate the acceptance, and again thanx!!!!!
Thanks Michael, it's good to have you join my revolving pack of brilliant strangelings. Loved your book, it's amazing that people from different backgrounds & places, can relate to each other this way, you are telling my story, with a few changes, plus your funny as .... Love Yr Stuff!!! Thanks for the friendship! bruce ,...;'"_+..,...~!
I happened to come across your book because a co-worker who currently lives in East Broadway in Southie read it & told me it was good. I couldn't put it down until it was finished, it was really moving and I thought it was an amazing book! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us & your insight as a child growing up in such a violent place. I cried at parts of the book, sympathized wholeheartedly with your mother (as a mother of 4 myself), laughed at other parts and was just blwon away by so much. Ever since I've read the book I've wanted to go down to Southie and check out the areas mentioned and actually be in the place where all this took place. Again, thanks for the add & I can't wait to get my hands on the next one. God Bless you & your family.
Michael, I just read Easter Rising. I want to thank you for writing it. After i read your story, I felt extremely uplifted. Music had similar effects on my ability to cope with certain things growing up. Its an outstanding example of the human spirit prevailing thru the void.
I dont know if u remember me... I grew up in old colony on patterson way. I loved ur mom n ur brother joe hope they r doing well. Ur sister kathy use to babysit me. Well take care... Please tell them kassie mclaughlin said hello. Btw i loved both ur books. Take care. Keep up the good work, ur family must be very proud of u
Thank you Michael. I just read All Souls, and it brought back so much from childhood. I read it in 2 days, and it's taken me a few to recover. ;) Thank you for giving so much of yourself and your story. I'm looking forward to Easter Rising.
HEY DID YOU EVER REALIZE IN YOUR BABY PIC ON THE BOOK AND YOUR DEFAULT HERE, YOU HAVE THE SAME EXPRESSION... YOU STILL LOOK THE SAME... LOL... WHATS UP KIDD? WHERE YA AT...
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