Massachusetts Books

This is a really fine book, a rarity in that it is a small town police procedural. The kind of story the Brits do well, but most American police procedurals are set in big cities like LA or NYC, and are much grittier.
There is a twenty-five year reunion of the class of `69 in Mellingham, MA. The story starts off slowly as we meet both returning students and the ones who've remained in Mellingham. It was a bit hard to keep track of so many characters at the beginning but once the first event of the reunion started at around page 50, I was caught up in their lives and what intricate lives they had. Becka, an attractive woman was once married to Richard, one member of the class, is now married to Hugh, another member of the class, and is being hit on by Vic, her neighbor and a former lover. She's the mother of a son by Richard. The two husbands and the neighbor are all involved in the same paper manufacturing business.
Another classmate, Elliot, has returned in search of the secret of what really happened that caused the disintegration of his family twenty-six years ago.
There are many interesting supporting characters too - the proprietors of the inn and bar where events are held, and Polly, the class secretary who persistently organizes everything.
Vic is sent home early in a taxi after creating a disturbance on the first evening of the reunion. In the morning, Becka finds him in a coma on his dining room floor and his wife no where to be found.
And, of course, from the first event on, we have Police Chief Joe Silva questioning and analyzing the behavior and emotions of the classmates. He was at the first event because he is dating a member of the class. Silva is an admirable protagonist, intelligent and compassionate, and by doggedly gathering evidence and talking to everyone, he clears up all of the mysteries, Elliot's past, the missing wife and Vic's coma.
A truly satisfying read that I recommend to all mystery lovers.

Bowen's letters are wonderful to read. In an age when posturing and gallantly posing was openly admired, Bowen shows a remarkably unvarnished and very human side of his life in the 15th MVI. The editor, G. Coco, has added tremendous amounts of research and filled in the background of many of the people, places and incidents with which Bowen was so familiar. An absolute must for anyone with an interest in the history and genealogical aspects of 15th MVI.

College-level students of culinary and feminist studies won't want to miss the unusual history in From Betty Crocker To Feminist Food Studies: Critical Perspectives On Women And Food: it gathers scholarly essays from a range of disciplines to address issues of economics, society and culture in food history, using gender as its foundation. Thirteen essays are arranged under four headings by history, representations, marketplace and resistances, following the history of scholarly food writing and feminist food studies. From studies on the influence of large corporations in determining what made up a proper meal in this country to surveys on how women have kept families nourished, essays consider race, gender, and social identity as it relates to food.

This is the best book on American economic history I have ever read. Rothenberg stoutly engages historians who downplay the importance of market activities in early New England. Her writing is clear, even thrilling, and she makes excellent and imaginative use of the most mundane documents--which must have taken years to assemble, assess, and interpret. A brilliant book that will appeal to students of early America for decades to come.

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This is a gorgeous, richly illustrated book that documents both the work and lives of over 50 early New England gravestone carvers. MANY beautiful B&W photos. A CD has tons more color images and searchable lists of everything. You can read this a little at a time, and use it as an indispensable reference, especially if you're a New Englander. It's scholarly, but readable, and works as a coffee-table book.

Vale's marvelously detailed history of public housing in Boston from the early Puritan settlements to the present day tells the story of our "alternating current of compassion and hostility" toward the poor in the U.S. Through his exploration of public housing in Boston, Vale writes a compelling sociological history of the tensions inherent in the American dream of home ownership, government subsidy vs. free enterprise, and most valuable of all explores the ideology of homeownership and its bearing on citizenship. Dense, meditative, often wryly humorous, this is a deeply researched work which yields uncommon insights about mythic American values of community as expressed through public housing and public spaces.

Particularly well-rendered is the recurring theme of how the government used its powers to dispense and dispose of land to reward certain Americans. The U.S. soldier was the first, and continues to be, a singular actor in this drama of service and reward. In the Jeffersonian post-revolutionary war period, veterans were rewarded with grants of land. In so doing, the government empowered these men to do the work of settling the frontier -- who better to perform such a task than those already trained in war? Civil War veterans were similarly rewarded.

From there, other "deserving" populations were rewarded with housing -- those who demonstrated their commitment to an American standard of behavior: industriousness, cleanliness, responsiblity being some of the key attributes for qualification for early public housing. Vale describes, for instance, how public housing developments in the Depression and postwar era were also used by politicians to reward their supporters, especially deserving working-class poor families who fit a traditional dual parent, father/provider schematic.

The early chapters exploring the city fathers erection and administration of jails, insane asylums, shelters for the poor, and the concomitant rise the settlement movement and the social worker are particularly well-rendered. Great illustrations, too!

I am traveling to Boston each year for the last 15 years. I though that I know most of the city. Well, this book is a short and very informative city guide and you can read it without big "fuss".

I update my Frommers annually to keep as a resource in my home. My guests appreciate the way this book is sectioned. I have discovered places and sights I never would have thought of by perusing this book. Would recommend this for travelers as well as residents of the area.

Among the MANY B&B guides to the Northeast, I found this one the most helpful for deciding where to go from Boston. Helfpul facts include travel times to the destinations, Nantucket vs. Martha's Vineyard, and other off-the beaten track locales (outside of Massachusetts). The book has helpful editorial, but more meaty that the general "quaint inn, hospitable couple serves muffins".

This book is really fun to read and quite interesting. The contrast between the two journals drives home the fact that LMA was just a little girl embarking on this experiment with her family. What a good sport she was! While based on actual events, the story is fictional. I think this is a good place to start if your not quite sure you want to read Little Women (you'll want to!). This book would be a great jumping-off point if you were looking to get someone interested in LMA and her works.