South Boston Boy

Uplifting story of how one family survived challenges and setbacks of the Great Depression, World War II and the Postwar years; how they beat poverty, mental illness, and alcoholism. A picture of their thirteen-year experience in public housing in the midst of an ethnic urban village in the 1940s-1950s. Told with engaging candor and humor.REVIEWS:"What a great gift Joe Doolin Has given us with South Boston Boy. A remarkably clear-eyed and unsentimental memoir of growing up in South Boston, through turmoil and tragedy, emerging stronger and more humanely decent. Joe Doolin, like many of others of his generation and neighborhood, has given a life of service to others. South Boston Boy may be his most generous contribution -- inspiring by its honesty and good humor." -- Robert J. Allison, Chair, History Department, Suffolk University; and President South Boton Historical Society"In South Boston Boy Joe Doolin captures much of the essence of South Boston in the mid twentieth century. The book not only chronicles his life in this hostoric and ever evolving neighborhood of Boston, but is done with humor and candor and is an engaging read." -- Anthony Sammarco, author of South Boston, vols. I and II, and several other books on Boston and environs