Suggested Reading?

I will be traveling to Boston in about a month and was wondering if anyone could suggest a good book to read to get a feel for the city (NOT a guidebook).

Suggested Reading?

Are you looking for fiction with Boston as a setting??

Suggested Reading?

If you are, you might like Robert Parker, or William Tapply.

A couple of nonfiction suggestions for you:

';Lost Boston'; by Jane Holtz Kay (University of Massachusetts Press: recently updated paperback edition was issued in 2006) - a marvelous, illustrated history of Boston chronicled through its physical development %26amp; architecture, but encompasses more -- and it is far more engagingly written -- than what mu ';thumbnail'; might suggest

';All Souls: A Family Story from Southie'; by Michael Patrick Macdonald (Ballantine paperback: 2000) - a gripping memoir which goes far in illuminating the once almost-entirely poor/working class, irish Catholic insular neighborhood of South Boston... the gangsterism of the Irish mafia, the political corruption %26amp; the racism, often violent (think Whitey Bulger %26amp; the 1975 school busing riots)... but with nuance %26amp; not without sympathy. Very readable, and very riveting.

Other nonfiction:

Common Ground by J. Anthony Lukas.

The Other Boston Busing Story by Susan Eaton

Fiction:

Caucasia by Danzy Senna.

I%26#39;d also recommend Dennis Lehane who has used Boston as a backdrop for all of his books. Many readers discovered him with ';Mystic River'; but I refer his earlier books beginning with ';A Drink Before The War';. Also known as the Patrick and Angie series, these books have a grittiness that Parker%26#39;s Spenser doesn%26#39;t. Both rely on tight dialogue and plotting, but Lehane%26#39;s voice is darker.

I would also include Wiliam Martin as a good local author. He has written ';Back Bay'; and its followup, ';Harvard Yard';, as well as ';Cape Cod'; and ';In the Shadow of the Moon';. ';Back Bay'; will seem a little dated to the reader, but the mystery plot is still good.

Thank for having posted this, dlee, and thanks for all the great suggestions. I will spend 2 weeks in Boston in summer too. Have already read the Patrick/Angie Lehane novels that I like very much.

You may add Henry James to your list, don%26#39;t you ? I just bought Henry James%26#39; Bostonians. Do you know if other of James%26#39; novels take place in Boston ?

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I was looking at both fiction and nonfiction books to help get more of an appreciation and feel for the city before I visit.

Legends Of Winter Hill by Jay Atkinson

Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan

Two gripping crime dramas--the first, non-fiction; the latter, fiction.