PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Irish dance halls were a well established fact of life in cities across much of the U.S. in the 1930s. Following World War II, through the 1940s and 1950s, some of these dance halls attained legendary status. Unique amongst its peers was Boston's Irish ballroom scene - five halls on the same street, all within very short walking distances from each other and to public transport. Here, Susan Gedutis chronicles an astonishing era in Boston's history in the words of those who lived it. - Joe Derrane Susan Gedutis's book brings to life a time when thousands of Irish-born people living in Boston would come together to socialize, to listen and to dance to Boston's finest musicians and singers. Gedutis weaves together anecdotes, memoirs and stories from many of the dancers and musicians who attended and participated in those now long-gone but not forgotten marathon weekends. Captivating, enlightening, and authoritative...a 'must read' for scholars. researchers, and anyone interested in the real story of the Boston Dudley Street dance halls. This book certainly commanded my attention. I finished it in one reading - a first for me! Enjoy! - Seamus Connolly, Director, Irish Music, Song and Dance, Boston College Irish Programs See You at the Hall will stand alone as the definitive book on Irish music and dance halls in Boston. It will be welcomed not only by a general readership of Irish Americans for whom this will be a moving and nostalgic glimpse of their past, but also by libraries, museums, and colleges everywhere that offer serious programs in Irish studies. - Thomas H. O'Connor, author of The Boston Irish: A Political History and The Hub: Boston Past and Present
