Dreaming of Columbus: A Boyhood in the Bronx

by Michael Pearson

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815605617
• ISBN13: 9780815605614
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An evocative narrative

I went to Catholic schools too during the 1960's and ythis book brought back those bittersweet memories. Pearson's stories made me remember what it felt like to grow up, the joy and sadness of it, the laughs and the desperate sense of waiting for the imoprtant things that were supposed to happen.

Loved it - Full of Laughter and full of exitement!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I, also being Catholic, could relate to the mysteries surrounding "A Nun's Habit" and the almighty ruler. It was enlightening reading about "tricks" boys played and looking back into the 60's & 70's when all was innocent and pranks were silly. The rememberence of the corner drug store and the friends in the neighborhood who felt like a part of your family. The tightly knit friends who went with you through all the ups and downs and growing through the changes in childhood to adolescence; the finally figuring out "what I want to be" and the many roads in life you took to get there. The book was well-written and the expressions that surfaced will stay with me for a long, long time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kudos to Pearson!

reads like a good novel

It was like reading Catcher in the Rye -- only it was a true story

Brought my Bronx childhood of the 60's back to life again...

I was born and raised in the Bronx during the 50's and 60's, graduated from St. Margaret Mary's Grammar School at 177th St. and the Concourse, and went to Cardinal Hayes High School before moving to Florida in 1967. In my job here in Florida, I write quite a bit. Never have I been able to capture the essence of life as a kid growing up in the Bronx and put those thoughts on paper as well as Pearson has done. For me, it was another delicious bite of the Knish that I haven't tasted in over 30 years. /s/ Tom Berlinger

Excerpts from Port Folio Weekly review

Norfolk's Port Folio Weekly reviewed this book and said: "For Pearson, the world was dominated by the Bronx. And in this beautifully crafted memoir, he has brought that world to life.His recollections of his literary experiences -- set against his memories of everday life on the street -- create a tension that is sustained throughout the book. One gets the impression that he was forever torn between the small world in which he lived and the wide world of his book-fueled imagination.Dreaming of Columbus gives us a brilliantly detailed picture of one boy's life in the Bronx. But to a great extent, it also transcends the particulars of time and place. Regardless of where you grew up, this is a book that will help you see your own past in new ways."