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BostonPL_Boston Memoirs: 18 Books Here in Beantown

From Boston politics to undercover detectives, pop stars to rock stars, chefs and doctors, these memoirs describe what it means to be a Bostonian. Check one out today and meet your neighbors! These titles may be available in other formats or languages. Check our catalog for availability.

Boston Public Library

18 items

  • An autobiographical account of Jack Kelly's tragic spiral into heroin addiction, recovery and running for office, in the cut throat world of Boston Politics.
    BookBoston, Massachusetts : Jack Kelly, 2018. — CT275 .K455 2018x
  • The Eden Express

    A Memoir of Insanity

    Vonnegut, Mark
    Vonnegut describes his experience in the late '60s and early '70s--a recent college grad; in love; living communally on a farm, with a famous and doting father, cherished dog, and prized jalopy--and then the nervous breakdowns in all their…
    eBookSeven Stories Press, 2011
  • A moving reminder of the power of baseball to be an unconquerable tie that binds fathers and sons.
    BookMcLean, Virginia : Miniver Press, 2017. — CT25 .H3787 2017x
  • In her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion and grief in this wise and affecting account about losing her best friend.
    eBookRandom House Publishing Group, 2010
  • Ordinary Girl is legendary singer-songwriter Donna Summer's delightfully candid memoir about her journey from signing in a Boston church to her unexpected reign as the Queen of Disco, and the tragedy and spiritual rebirth that followed.
    BookNew York : Villard, c2003. — ML420.S952 A3 2003
  • The story of a kid from the Depression era who wins a college scholarship, goes through Navy flight training, serves as a carrier pilot, and lands at Harvard Law School.
    Book[Charleston, South Carolina?] : Leapyear Press, [2016] — F71.22.D45 A3 2016x
  • Senna traces the story of her parents' turbulent marriage and divorce, describing how their mixed-race union was originally seen as a barrier-breaking symbol of hope before its deterioration.
    BookNew York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. — PS3569.E618 Z46 2009
  • As a teenager Flynn received letters from his stranger father, a self-proclaimed poet and con man doing time in federal prison for bank robbery. He finally met his father while working as a caseworker in a Boston homeless shelter.
    eAudiobookBlackstone Publishing, 2012
  • In 1969, an eighteen-year-old college freshman accepted the job of a building superintendent inside Boston's notorious Combat Zone. He believed he had been given a free ride to independence and prosperity, but within a very short time…
    Book[Place of publication not identified] : Hawknest, 2015. — HQ146.B6 T83 2015x
  • Book One: 1946 to 1984 Scondras was the first openly-gay elected Boston City Councilor and this book explores his origins, how he became political, and how he came out as a gay man in Boston over the period of the 1960s through the 1980s.
    BookCreatespace Independent Publishing,
  • Savin Hill

    A Redheaded Kid's Memoir

    Dr. Edward McKenney
    Edward McKenney looks back to another era with entertaining stories from Savin Hill, an Irish Catholic neighborhood, in this entertaining and heartfelt memoir highlighting the period from 1969 to 1979.
    eBookiUniverse, 2016
  • Turmoil and Transition in Boston

    A Political Memoir from the Busing Era

    Dicara, Lawrence S.
    The personal and political story of Larry DiCara, the youngest person ever elected to the Boston City Council. In this memoir, he offers an insider's perspective on the decade of turmoil of the 1970s surrounding the federal court order…
    eBookHamilton Books, 2013
  • Out of Line

    the Unexpected Education of An Improbable Chef

    Lynch, Barbara, 1964-
    A memoir by the James Beard Award-winning Top Chef judge traces her rise from a hard-knocks south Boston childhood to culinary stardom, reflecting on her experiences with petty crime, drugs and trauma before finding healing and purpose in…
    eBookNew York : Atria Books, [2017] — TX649.L96
  • Alfalfa to Ivy

    Memoir of a Harvard Medical School Dean

    Martin, Joseph B.
    Joseph B. Martin traces his climb from a Mennonite farm in the village of Duchess, Alberta to Dean of Harvard Medical School.
    eBookGutteridge Books, 2011
  • The Passage

    Memoir of a Boston Undercover Cop in the '60s

    Vitti, Phillip M.
    Journey through the labyrinth of Boston’s once infamous Combat Zone, peer into the inner workings of organized crime, and trace the rudimentary beginnings of Vitti's undercover personality known as Mike Russo, whose persona would last an…
    BookBloomington, IN : AuthorHouse, c2012. — HV7911.V493 A3 2012x
  • Life in the Balance

    a Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss With Parkinson's Disease and Dementia

    Graboys, Thomas B.
    Dr. Thomas Graboys was a nationally renowned Boston cardiologist popular for his attention to the hearts and souls of his patients, until he could no longer see patients or give rounds due to his battle with a particularly aggressive form…
    BookNew York : Union Square Press, c2008. — RC382 .G68 2008x
  • Walk This Way

    the Autobiography of Aerosmith

    Aerosmith (Musical group)
    An almost day-by-day account of the high and low life of a true rock 'n' roll monster, in the words of the guys who made it happen: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer.
    BookNew York : Avon Books, 1997. — ML421.A32 A3 1997