The Bostonian

by Larry Donnelly

Life in an Irish American political family

304 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2021

Reviews

[Peter Thew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix of a book. Most of it is taken up with Larry's autobiography. Born into a Boston Democrat family -he's nephew of Irish-American former senator Brian Donnelly - he eventually decided to move away from the USA and moved to Ireland in 2001 where he lectures in law as well as being an online commentator on US politics for Irish readers. The last third of the book is given over to his views on the Irish political system as well as his take on the current state of US politics. In many ways, this is the most interesting part of the book and it would probably have been a better book if this had been the larger part. He writes clearly and argues his viewpoints well - I just wish there had been more room given over to them.

[James Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many parallel stories from Larry's upbringing and path in life to my own.

Larry Donnelly grew up in greater Boston during a very interesting time in the city's history, just past the terrible busing situation, through the 1980's when Boston began to discover a new life while holding onto its past. Larry writes with honesty about his failures and successes as well as his evolution from being a strict conservative Republican practicing Catholic to a centrist Democrat who balances his strong faith with modern realities of what it means to be Catholic, American, Bostonian, Irish, all at the same time. Heartwarming, informative, and relatable to both sides of the Atlantic.