Massachusetts Books

John F. Kennedy, Thomas P. O'Neill, John Adams, John Quincy Adams. Massachusetts public servants who have held high Federal offices are the characters that we get to know in this lively historical chronicle.

Neil J. Savage is a master story teller and writer. Extraordinary Tenure gives us highly-readable accounts of the fascinating people from Massachusetts who have held office as presidents, cabinet members, and Supreme Court justices, and other leading positions in our nation's history. Some were heroes; some were knaves. We learn of the best and the worst in this timely volume for the general reader.

The historical sketches here are concise, informative and often witty. One of the great strengths of the book is the context of the historical controversies brewing at the time of each leader's
service. The portrait of John Quincy Adams, for example, gives an insightful description of the slavery and secession struggles that were beginning to tear apart our country in the 1840's

If you demand obtuse academic babble, this book is not for you. If you're a reader with a curiosity about the real-life characters who led our nation in its first two hundred years, this book is for you. History should always be so enjoyable and informative.

I have checked this book out of the library twice and realized it meant enough to me to want to own it. I am pleased and proud to have it now.

In this juicy, lively memoir of the Boston poetry scene in the 1950's, Davison dishes the dirt not only on himself but also on such luminaries as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Frost. The decade of the 1950's was a time of delirious creativity for these poets perched on the threshold of fame and notoriety, and at the center of the vortex sat Robert Lowell, brilliant teacher, mentor and model of the wounded artist. Davison's group portrait shows men dominating these mythologized poetic years with the women cajoling, wheedling and flirting to be noticed, and then, once they had the men's attention, stepping forward with fierce work to be taken seriously. As readers will see, Plath and Sexton were up to any challenge and left behind for posterity both their great works and tales of their wild vamping exploits. Although Davison makes no secret that everybody in the group drank like fish and acted out with impunity, he ultimately celebrates those years as the apex of his social and creative life, a time populated by people of immense charisma and talent. The book is simply a love letter to the difficult geniuses of one of the great moments in 20th century American literary history.

After my wife and I first went to Boston, and before our second trip, I acquired and read this book. On the first trip we found ourselves, one grey afternoon, in the bar at the Ritz Carlton opposite Boston Common, having drinks. It had the atmosphere of something... but what? Now we know that Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton used to also go here for drinks after Robert Lowell's poetry classes. Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall for those times.

This book is a fascinating recounting of those times and the many poets in Boston and Cambridge and their various relationships by one who was of that circle. Not a "tell-all", just human. People on their life journey. Interesting formative people. It can guide you on an alternative tour of the city and with a little imagination you can 'see' and feel what went on behind those walls from the time and the people who led one writer, I forget which, to say 'America did not enter the twentieth century until the 1960s.' These are among the formative ones and this is one of the places that led that to happen. You will see Boston differently after. And isn't that what makes any read worthwhile.

This is a great book.
As Mets and Yanks tear down their stadiums, Fenway remains. Does this make the Red Sox the only true team left? They resisted the temptation to build a megaplex like all of the other corporate teams and it has paid off. The Yankees have lost their stripes once again demonstrating that true baseball fans have their purest outlet with Fenway and the Sox.
This book is a smart take and worth reading by anyone who enjoys thinking about baseball. A nice addition to any library, but I would suggest for those who enjoy intelligent conversation about the game and what it means...

This is truly one of my favorite books (arcane though it is). Sphrantzes' court history is personal, immediate and very human. Unlike most Byzantine historians the reader gets a sense of the author's personality. All of the characters are well rounded with normal strengths and weaknesses. I find the story of Constantine XI last days to be very moving as he struggles to save his city from the assault of the Turks. Sphrantzes portrait shows Constantines' strength as well as his despair in those final days.

Great end notes too.

I have lived in Weston for over 20 years, spent my summers here, and my Grandparents moved here in 1937. Pam's book is a must have for any coffee table, especially a Weston Massachusetts one! The town's history is thoroughly investigated and recorded, the index is easy to use and shows all the connections between families over time, and the historic pictures are wonderful. If there were a history course in the Weston public schools, this would be THE text book! Whenever I have a question about who was who and where in Weston, Pam's book is the authority and the best resource!

Perhaps the definitive account of James, Sr. You have to have a taste for both James and the author's thought processes, but if you are intellectually adventurous, the book will richly repay the reading. For insights on Swedenborgian theology, and copious documentation on Sr,'s profoundly anti-institutional ecclesiology, I am eternally grateful.

Always supremely confident in his own abilities, if Henry James, Sr. were alive today, well, that'd just be absolutely insane.

You should read this book.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Central Mass!!

I know the writer and he knows his history about Southborough, Massachusetts.
Great Book!!!!