Podcast
Pivot
It is a confessional memoir that follows the author from a Catholic upbringing, to bartending, to missionary work, and more. The author discussed the importance of communal spaces and how the book explores themes of family, community, and personal growth.
I originally had...a town I spent most of my teenage years in was called Athol, Massachusetts. I'll give you one guess what everyone else in the state called us. Asshole. Butthole. That's right. Assho...
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It is a confessional memoir that follows the author from a Catholic upbringing, to bartending, to missionary work, and more. The author discussed the importance of communal spaces and how the book explores themes of family, community, and personal growth.
I originally had...a town I spent most of my teenage years in was called Athol, Massachusetts. I'll give you one guess what everyone else in the state called us. Asshole. Butthole. That's right. Asshole, Massachusetts.
Dirtbag, Massachusetts was going to be the heart of every essay that I put into this book.
I was raised in an unhoused shelter run by the Catholic worker. And I really think if you look at my childhood on paper, you look at my whole life on paper, you would think those early years were the hardest, whereas they were actually the best years.
So I'm in the confessional, there's a metal lattice between me and the priest. All I know is that at the age of 12, I was confessing many different things, and none of them held this person's attention. They truly were just going through the motions.
And the priest sat up, and the priest was paying more attention. His ears were more alert. His breathing became heavier. And he started to ask for more details.