Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion

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.