Michael J. Pallamary lives in California, but he grew up in Dorchester and still visits a few times a year. With the recent publication of his first novel, “Days of Eight,” he brings his readers back to his version of the old neighborhood. The 550-page book— set in 1968— follows 18-year-old Danny McSweeney, who is attempting to navigate through the violence and racial tensions that seem to be around every corner in Pallamary’s fictionalized Dorchester. 

“Everything in that book that I’ve written about are things I’ve seen and experienced,” the author told The Reporter. “I learned so much growing up in Dorchester that I felt it’s a story that needs to be told.”

“This wasn’t set yesterday. That period of bigotry, racism, and the introduction to the decline of the Catholic Church left a big impression on me. I felt a need to tell that story. As distasteful as a lot of it is, I felt it was a story worth telling.” 

Pallamary, born in 1954, says he was abandoned by his father and raised by his single mother. Life was far from easy for him and his siblings, but he has fond memories of hanging on street corners, riding the train, ditching school at Boston Tech to sneak into Dot High, and spending summer days on Malibu Beach. 

In his book, Pallamary explains that Dorchester Avenue “sees the flow of life.”

“At every corner, there was a liquor store, church, or funeral home,” he recalled. “I think that did a lot to define us and to define me. This is what it was like growing up there and we made do with what we had.”

It was not all great. As Pallamary grew older the dangers of the Vietnam War appeared closer than ever and the neighborhood was heavily defined by its roughness and racism. It wasn’t until Pallamary became a father himself that he finally felt it was time to leave behind the only neighborhood he ever called home. 

 “At the time my wife and I, she was 16 and I was 19, had our first child I was really unhappy with the scene in Boston. There was a lot of violence and unnecessary racism, and it was such a terrible time. We, being as young as we were and then having two children, decided we weren’t going to stay there,” said the author. 

In 1976, the family of four packed up all their belongings and drove cross-country until they reached California. Today Pallamary is a professional land surveyor and resides in San Diego with his wife of 51 years, Maureen. 

Over 20 years ago Pallamary decided he would write a book reflecting the reality of Dorchester that he knew.

“I would just write,” he put it simply. “If something comes to mind, I would just capture it.”

Two tactics worked especially well for the author during his writing process.

“I would go back to Dorchester and just sit around and listen to people talk and hear how they described things,” said Pallamary. “I used to go sit in the Erie Pub and other places and pick up dialogue.”

In addition to people-watching, Pallamary found Facebook a valuable tool to gather information and promote his novel.

“I would post an excerpt from whatever I was working on, and I would run it out there on Facebook and everyone was kind of guiding me. I vetted the book by Facebook feedback.” While the social media platform helped him perfect his product, it stirred a sense of longing, too.

“A lot of the nostalgia might be ringing better with folks who are a little older. I don’t know how a younger person will interpret the book,” admitted Pallamary. “One of the common comments received is people telling me they can smell the urine in Fields Corner when I describe the opening scene. That’s a flattering comment even as unattractive as it is. I was trying to capture the sense and smell and feeling.” 

So far, he says, the book has been well-received.

“Everyone asks me: ‘Was that me?’ No, these are all composites; these are just made-up characters. Some of them have attributes.”
Earlier this spring Pallamary hosted book signing events at the Barnes & Noble locations in Dedham and Hingham and plans on returning toward the end of the summer to host several more. He is also proud to share that a sequel is “already cooking.” 

Even more exciting is the potential to see his story come to life on the big screen after receiving an offer from ABC.

“My goal is to put Dorchester on the map in a positive way. Nothing would be more exciting than taking this thing to film or possibly a series,” Pallamary said in an interview with the Reporter. “I think we could put a positive light on Dorchester. For years people were embarrassed to mention Dorchester but now I think a lot of people do it with pride.”

Pallamary added: “I tell everybody it was the best place in the world to grow up. Old Dorchester.”