Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional: Isaac Fitzgerald: Bloomsbury Publishing

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

A Confessional

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

A Confessional

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
Winner of the New England Book Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Nonfiction Book of the Year

“The best of what memoir can accomplish... pulling no punches on the path to truth, but it always finds the capacity for grace and joy.” –Esquire, "Best Memoirs of the Year"

A TIME Must-Read Book of the Year * A Rolling Stone Top Culture Pick * A Publishers Weekly Best Memoir of the Season * A Buzzfeed Book Pick * A Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated Book * A Chicago Tribune Book Pick * A Boston.com Book You Should Read * A Los Angeles Times Book to Add to Your Reading List

Isaac Fitzgerald has lived many lives. He's been an altar boy, a bartender, a fat kid, a smuggler, a biker, a prince of New England. But before all that, he was a bomb that exploded his parents' lives-or so he was told. In Dirtbag, Massachusetts, Fitzgerald, with warmth and humor, recounts his ongoing search for forgiveness, a more far-reaching vision of masculinity, and a more expansive definition of family and self.

Fitzgerald's memoir-in-essays begins with a childhood that moves at breakneck speed from safety to violence, recounting an extraordinary pilgrimage through trauma to self-understanding and, ultimately, acceptance. From growing up in a Boston homeless shelter to bartending in San Francisco, from smuggling medical supplies into Burma to his lifelong struggle to make peace with his body, Fitzgerald strives to take control of his own story: one that aims to put aside anger, isolation, and entitlement to embrace the idea that one can be generous to oneself by being generous to others.

Gritty and clear-eyed, loud-hearted and beautiful, Dirtbag, Massachusetts is a rollicking book that might also be a lifeline.

Product details

Published	Nov 07 2023
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	256
ISBN	9781639731640
Imprint	Bloomsbury Publishing
Illustrations	One B&W image
Dimensions	0 x 0 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Isaac Fitzgerald

Isaac Fitzgerald appears frequently on The Today S…

Isaac Fitzgerald's memoir-in-essays is a bighearted read infused with candor, sharp humor, and the hope that comes from discovering saints can be found in all sorts of places.

Rolling Stone, "Top Culture Picks of the Month"
Dirtbag, Massachusetts is the best of what memoir can accomplish. It's blisteringly honest and vulnerable, pulling no punches on the path to truth, but it always finds the capacity for grace and joy.

Esquire, "Best Memoirs of the Year"
Told without piety or violin strains of uplift, but rather, an embrace of the chaos of just getting by.

Chicago Tribune, "Books for Summer 2022: Our Picks"
Fitzgerald reflects on his origins-and coming to terms with self-consciousness, anger, and strained family relationships. His writing is gritty yet vulnerable.

TIME, "27 New Books You Need to Read This Summer"
Isaac Fitzgerald lays himself bare in this stunning memoir, stripping off all the things that no long serve him. Raw, vulnerable, and powerful, this book will be a key in the lock of many hearts and minds.

Emma Straub
Equal parts illuminating and poignant, Fitzgerald's essays attempt to untangle what it means to be a man in this world and in his own body.

Buzzfeed, "Summer Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down"