Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
Dreaming of Columbus: A Boyhood in the Bronx
Contributor(s): Pearson, Michael (Author)

View larger image

ISBN: 0815605617     ISBN-13: 9780815605614
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Retail: $24.95OUR PRICE: $18.21  
  Buy 25 or more:OUR PRICE: $16.72   Save More!
  Buy 100 or more:OUR PRICE: $15.97   Save More!


  WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!   Click here for our low price guarantee

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: April 1999
Qty:

Annotation: A moving memoir, Dreaming of Columbus illuminates place as a force that shapes lives. Through recollection and reportage, Michael Pearson recreates the Bronx of the 1950s and 60s, the place of his youth, that "precisely known world, safe and claustrophobic, " an Irish Catholic culture filled with light and shadows.

Pearson renders time and place vividly through his lyrical narrative voice and generous spirit toward his characters. In a work that is both comic and sad, he juxtaposes descriptions of adolescent escapades with the grim discipline of parochial schools. It is in this Bronx that dreams of escape fuse with bittersweet memories.

The driving force behind Pearson's story is its people -- an enigmatic father, a steadfast mother, an eccentric and influential writing teacher, the boys and girls who shared his neighborhood, the high school girl who shared his vision and his life -- and the books that made escape and return seem possible.

Few writers go home again as successfully as Michael Pearson. When he literally and imaginatively revisits the all-but-unrecognizable Bronx of his youth, longing for its intense life, he concedes it was "close to paradise." We understand perfectly.

Click for more in this series: New York City History and Culture

Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures
- Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs
Dewey: B
LCCN: 98-38554
Series: New York City History and Culture
Physical Information: 0.98" H x 6.3" W x 9.32" L (1.15 lbs) 224 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1950-1999
- Chronological Period - 1950's
- Chronological Period - 1960's
- Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic
- Cultural Region - Northeast U.S.
- Demographic Orientation - Urban
- Ethnic Orientation - Irish
- Geographic Orientation - New York
Features: Dust Cover, Table of Contents
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 03/15/1999 pg. 435
Booklist 03/15/1999 pg. 1287
Commonweal 02/22/2002 pg. 22
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
A moving memoir, Dreaming of Columbus illuminates place as a force that shapes lives. With recollection and reportage, Michael Pearson re-creates the Bronx of the 1950s and 1960s, an Irish Catholic culture filled with light and shadows. Pearson renders time and place vividly through his lyrical narrative voice and his generous spirit toward his characters. The driving force behind Pearson's story is its people--an enigmatic father, a steadfast mother, an eccentric and influential writing teacher, the boys and girls who shared his neighborhood, the high school girl who shared his vision and his life--and the books that made escape and return seem possible. Few writers go home again as successfully as Michael Pearson. When he literally and imaginatively revisits the all-but-unrecognizable Bronx of his youth, longing for its intense life, he concedes it was close to paradise. We understand perfectly.
 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!