Posts by Michael Quinlin

Neal Thompson Readers are always eager for a new book on the Kennedys, especially one that chronicles the family’s journey from impoverished immigrants to the pinnacle of power, wealth and achievement, exemplified by the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Neal Thompson’s book The First Kennedys delivers a well-written, lively account of Patrick Kennedy and his…

Damien Murray The evolving identity of the Boston Irish during the first quarter of the 20th century provides a fascinating backdrop for Damien Murray’s book on Irish nationalism. Murray, an Associate Professor of History at Elms College in Chicopee, examines how Boston Irish identity was shaped by seismic events in Ireland like the 1916 Easter…

Dan Milner Dan Milner’s new book, The Unstoppable Irish traces the ascension of Irish Catholics in New York City through music over a full century, from post-Revolutionary War to post-Civil War. Folk songs, broadsides, songsters and sheet music form the thread for this evolution and lend insight into how the Irish were perceived and how…

Hidetaka Hirota The hordes of Irish immigrants who came to North America in the 19th century were more often paupers, traumatized by famine, disease, war and social injustice. Their transatlantic migration to eastern seaboard cities like Montreal, Boston, New York and Philadelphia is well documented. Less understood is how rampant anti-Irish nativism toward these immigrants…

Michael Coffey Author Michael Coffey has published a new book called Samuel Beckett is Closed. Written according to a sequence laid out by Beckett in his notes to the unpublished manuscript, “Long Observations of the Ray,” Coffey’s book is a mediation that shifts through numerous themes that range from a NY Mets Baseball game in…

Peter Behrens Canadian author Peter Behrens has written an epic tale of a sprawling Irish family in 20th century America that starts in Quebec and ends in California.  Along the way family ambition, betrayal, madness and violence are all examined by beautiful prose and great insight.  Publishers Weekly called The O’Briens a work of ‘rough…

Foreword: Caroline Kennedy Think of this exquisite coffee-table book literally as a family album, with photos, snippets from letters, humorous asides and personal reflections. But it’s a family album that chronicles one of America’s most famous families. The 300 plus photographs, overwhelmingly black & white, were lovingly saved and preserved by Rose, who in many…

Patrick L. Kennedy and Lawrence W. Kennedy Foreword by Bill Rogers. The Boston Marathon is filled with iconic characters like John J. McDermott, who won the first contest in 1897, and Johnny Kelley, who finished the race 58 times. Equally notable is “Bricklayer Bill” Kennedy, a working class Irish-American who was part of the amateur…