Wicked Pissed: New England's Most Famous Feuds

by Ted Reinstein Author of Before Brooklyn

From sports to politics, food to finance, aviation to engineering, to bitter disputes over simple boundaries themselves, New England’s feuds have peppered the region’s life for centuries. They’ve been raw and rowdy, sometimes high minded and humorous, and in a place renowned for its deep sense of history, often long-running and legendary. There are even some that will undoubtedly outlast the region’s ancient low stone walls.

Ted Reinstein, a native New Englander and local writer, offers us fascinating stories, some known, others not so much, from the history of New England in this fun, accessible book. Bringing to life many of the fights, spats, and arguments that have, in many ways, shaped the area itself, Reinstein demonstrates what it really means to be Wicked Pissed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2016

Reviews

[Mark Mortensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The humorous collection of feuds and rivalries within New England starts rather strong and then fizzles as the chapters roll on. The first feud is the contention between Lexington and Concord for the historical right to claim the location where the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired. There’s an interesting piece on the battle of Bunker Hill compared to the lesser known Breed Hill, but for me there was too much filler with Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees sagas.

I lived in Lexington my first 5 years and attended church directly across the street from Lexington Green in the town’s center, where the British opened fire on April 19, 1775 killing and wounding a few local militia Minutemen. Years later I graduated from high school in Concord. With a footprint in each town I fully agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson that the notable shot occurred in Concord later on April 19th at the Old North Bridge with the first deaths of British Redcoats.

There is another much smaller feud/rivalry not mentioned in the book that has gone by the wayside. In high school I played a couple of sports and through the ages the #1 rivalry of our Concord Patriots was the Lexington Minuteman. The final football season game always pitted the two historic towns on Thanksgiving Day morning. During my senior year on Thanksgiving Day 1969 the neighboring towns faced off for the final time as Lexington had grown to over 2 ½ times the population of Concord, prompting Concord to switch to a lower division league. However we always cherished being the underdog and often faired quite well. Naturally I was pulling for Concord but one of my very best friends was captain and middle linebacker for Lexington, who later became a small college all-American.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ted Reinstein, a reporter for the beloved Boston television news magazine "Chronicle", serves up tales of feuds that go back to the American Revolution - including "where did the Revolution begin?". Written with the same folksy demeanor of his "Main Streets and Back Roads" reports, Reinstein serves up some levity to go along with the arguments.

Perfect read for a day at the beach, or a rainy day indoors.

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t think this book was as good as the title suggests it but it was in lightning to read about different things that new England thinks our appointment and left to fight about. Why does the Market Basket incident remind me of the California strike I think it was Albertsons a year no not a year maybe like 10 years back? I don’t know. I did not realize however that there was such a divide between Lexington and Concorde about when the revolution started. Of course I read about the start of it in history class in college and it keeps coming up in readings but I didn’t realize there were two separate events. So I guess I need to read my history more closely. And the other one was pretty interesting now I can’t remember which one it was. The one with the president went to one town when they thought that the event actually occurred in another town. It’s a great light read and the title was definitely catching.

[Symski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I expected more... the title proclaims that it is about the most famous feuds, not the most interesting. I shouldn't be surprised that it chronicles mostly rather-boring "feuds" that I have already heard of. Still, in my mind I had woven unrealistic expectations of feuds that result in violence or death, conspiracy and intrigue. Perhaps that is my fault, but perhaps this is, either way, rather boring information.

Which is not to say there weren't some items of interest. The shot heard round the world, the market basket feud, there were some things worth learning about. The problem is everything interesting is towards the first half of the book... And then you're left wondering when something good will come up again. Don't be a completionist like me, just put it down when the going gets rough.

[Don LeClair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may not be a Massachusetts native, but I have lived here for three quarters of my life. So, I just had to read this book based solely on having "wicked pissed" in its title; how could I pass up something this quintessentially New England!

Happily, the book was a fun read. It covers feuds between states, families, and politics. There are also amusing inset pages such as the one that explains how the odd bump in the border between Massachusetts and Connecticut happened. Ted Reinstein’s writing has a nice balance of fact and low-key humor.

One or two of the stories could have been shortened a bit (such as the Connecticut-North Carolina feud about the first motorized flight). Still, reading the book is amusing, and you are bound to find out something new while reading it.

[Katherine Hebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and enlightening.

[Tim Mcanany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Was hoping for some more feuds...

[Breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up after meeting the Author. I enjoyed learning more about New England and I plan to visit some of his recommendations.

[Scot · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5

[Nin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breezy and chatty in style. Doesn't go too far in depth into the fueds, more of an overview.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actual rating is 1.5 stars, because I did learn a couple of things I didn't know before. Also, Reinstein manages one delicious turn-of-phrase. That takes care of the positives.

(By the way, I put this on the "humor" shelf, because the book considers itself funny. That doesn't mean I found it funny. See Problem #2.)

The biggest problem with Wicked Pissed is that Reinstein never defines a feud; even if he never did so for the reader--and he didn't have to!--he needed to define it in his own mind, and that never happened. As it stands in the book, "feud" apparently encompasses everything from genocide (Native Americans vs Pilgrims and other European settlers--fortunately he doesn't go into this) to chummy disagreement. At least half of the "feuds" are nothing more than people having a polite difference of opinion. One chapter is devoted to food, and contains a lengthy section about which restaurant (among three on the North Shore) has the best fried clams, which is fine for an episode of Phantom Gourmet or a food column in the Globe, but utterly out of place in a book about feuds. (The eateries are run by diplomatic people who help the competition out if they run out of, say, clams. Some feud.) Another section is devoted to two pizza places, and it runs along the same lines.

Problem #2: the constant, obnoxious asides. Reinstein doesn't trust any of his jokes to land the first time, so he tends to follow them up with parenthetical comments. It's like having a hacky comic, or someone who aspires to BE a hacky comic, narrating the book for you, and it's terrible: in addition to interrupting the flow of the narrative (am I right, folks?), it spoils whatever joke he made (such a shame)--assuming it was going to land in the first place. (No guarantee there.)

See what I did there.

Problem #3: Reinstein can't decide how smart or informed his audience is, and no source is ever cited. Chapters begin with (over-)generalizations of the theme at hand, and explanations of New England culture that range from odd to accurate to infuriatingly repetitive. He defines "milieu" for the reader (the phrase "Dictionary.com defines ..." happens, lord have mercy), as though everyone reading the book is perhaps ten years old. And yet, his retelling of history is clearly iffy in spots, with occasional odd gaps, and weird non-sequiturs. Was I just not smart enough to catch on? And, in a section that should not exist, he goes on about Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts: where are your stats from, bro? What is your point, beyond that you like crullers? Also, is there an actual feud here? Milieu.

Problem #4: The chapter about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is a long mess. Whereas he used to over-explain, in this chapter suddenly every reader is a sports expert--but one who doesn't remember anything that happened in 2003 or later, because he's gonna walk you through that ALCS, BY GOD, as well as the one in 2004. Now, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is, unlike most of the "feuds" in the book, an actual feud, and some of the history he covers is relevant! But most of this chapter is nothing more than a sports column that he wrote because he wanted to. It could be at least 30% shorter and more relevant if he cut out the sports column and stuck with the feud.

tl;dr
Ultimately, what this book needed was a ruthless editor, at least another year of research (to look for actual feuds, or to change the title to something else--perhaps "Best New England Foods" or "1001 Feelings I Have About the Red Sox"), and 50% less Ted Reinstein.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed in this book. It seemed missing something to me - perhaps the passion that fuels the very feuds and mentalities of New England the book features. Also, for me, too much time was spent on the Yankees/Red Sox, and there weren't enough little-known, non-famous, small stories of neighbor feuds that I think really make up New England (heck, my own grandmother could have provided at least 2 chapters of such material on her own).
I'm giving it 3 stars, because there is a variety of topics and likely a little something of interest for most people, and opportunities to learn. Personally, though, it may be more a 2-star book, as I didn't find it as entertaining, engaging, or funny as I had hoped.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK there is not much to say about this book other than to say it's fun and engaging. The version on Boston politics is great fun and enjoyable to read. I only wish he'd gone into more detail on things like the fight within Boston politics and how James Michael Curley lost do to another long term feud. There's also the great story about how the Western part of the state feuds with Boston even if Boston doesn't see it quite that way. How about Harvard & Yale and MIT with everyone. So it's a fun read with the exception of the feud between what's his name and the Wright Brothers. That one isn't even worth commenting on.

A fun read but don't take it to seriously

[Cathy]

The second of Reinstein's book hits the mark with feuding clans and clashes, literary greats and the ever-present Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. From who is first in flight to who has the best clams, pizza or political clout, New England feuds are legendary. Reinstein's calm demeanor, ever-present curiosity, passion for research and years in the reporting field make him the perfect narrator for this collection of fascinating true stories.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After hearing Ted speak about his book at my local library, I decided to give his book a try. It was a fun look at New England fueds from European settlement to the current day. It was fun to read about the Fitzgerald-Hurley political fued, the Sox/Yankee sports fued, etc.

[Barbara K]

Fun, fast read. Wicked good!