You will feel like you were there, in this lively flashback to an era in Boston�s history heavily influenced by organized crime, courtesy of the Irish and Italian Mobs. �Southie� became an extremely challenging environment during the 1970s and 80s, truly reminiscent of the Wild West! Tom walked a fine line between good and evil just to co-exist. Mob-enforcers, bookies, drug dealers, and killers were among his friends and clients. Cheating death became the rule during a life truly lived on the edge. The horror is tempered by amazing humor, an interesting character and his surprising survival in this true, contemporary story. Within feet of his front-office door, a man was shot several times by masked gunmen while at Tom�s gas pumps. A boy was beaten unconscious, and then kicked in the face. An innocent black man was brutally attacked by a gang of youths wildly swinging hockey sticks. Whitey Bulger threatened Tom with a gun. Farther down E. Third Street, Whitey was killing people and burying them in the cellar of a house. Tom confronted another would-be killer who later returned and shot Tom�s friend eleven times. As a gesture of good will, a local drug dealer often tossed joints from his window while driving by Tom�s shop. Outsider Tom Cirignano struggled to fit in, eventually becoming accepted into this violent neighborhood where street-justice ruled. Tom lived directly across the street from Southie High during the desegregation of Boston�s schools via "Forced Busing," and the riots that ensued. Plus, owning a gas station and repair shop in the heart of �Southie� during the oil embargo of the 1970�s created a dangerous scenario in itself. Tom is a survivor who has seen it all�rackets, discrimination, and violence. He got himself into near-fatal situations far too often. Amazing luck alone kept him alive. Experience a community being overtaken by murder and drugs. Feel what it was like to live and work in �Southie� during its heyday of unbridled illegal activity. Tom himself had a gunpoint encounter with Whitey Bulger, and lived to tell about it. The son of an Italian immigrant, Tom adhered to the old-world values of his rough-and tumble dad, taking the higher ground while struggling to co-exist. His story answers the question, �To what extremes should one go in order to just fit it?� While he keeps your adrenaline flowing, Tom lightens the mood by including embarrassing yet extremely funny incidents, and valuable life-lessons about choices and consequences. In spite of the stressful environment he faced each day at work, the author chased each and every one of his dreams. Be became a certified scuba diver, ultralight aircraft pilot, motorcycle enthusiast and avid boater. The excitement builds with each and every chapter, making this a story that won�t disappoint! *Please note: Although the accounts are true, names which first appear in quotation marks throughout the book are not the actual names of the people discussed.
The names have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

A unique feature of The Constant Outsider is that it offers readers an opportunity to take a deep look inside themselves. They are encouraged to utilize the blank �Reader�s Notes� pages which appear at several locations in the book, using them to record and explore the significant people, critical choices, and the life altering events of their own unique pasts. Doing so will perhaps give each reader insight into how and why he or she became the person they are today.

The author believes: "Each of us is a book waiting to be written, and that book, if written, results in a person explained."
Readers may discover that their lives have been anything but ordinary or typical, just as the author did.

SIGNED COPIES may be available by contacting ConstantOutsider@aol.Com with "Copy Request" in the subject line.The author�s Blog is available for your comments at http://theconstantoutsider.blogspot.com/ You may also visit TheConstantOutsider.com

Reviews :

"Reading �The Constant Outsider� made me fall in love with both the book, and the author. Somebody up there must love Tom too, or he wouldn�t be around today to share his life�s amazing experiences with us. Tom Cirignano is your everyday hero, a rare and unpretentious combination of courage, morality and humanity. Though Tom saw himself as The Constant Outsider, it is no wonder that he quickly became an insider, liked and respected wherever he went. You will smile, laugh and cringe with horror as you read his efforts to survive in the Mob-controlled environment of South Boston. You�ll come to understand how one could prefer living on the edge of danger in the inner city as opposed to the super-safe suburbs the rest of us are running to.�
Izzy Kalman, Nationally Certified School Psychologist / Author of Bullies to Buddies: How to Turn Your Enemies into Friends.(Bullies2Buddies.Com)

"I just finished reading �The Constant Outsider� this morning, and loved the entire book! There are so many things I can relate to, from stories about the author�s father being brutally honest yet surprisingly compassionate at times, stories about the drinking just to try to fit in, and the crazy motorcycle stories! I have a few of those myself. I found it to be extremely well written in that the situations are even more exciting just by the way Tom phrases his words.
By far, the best book I have read in years, and that�s the truth!
PS:Tom, please don�t eat any more fruit salad!!! I think something similar has probably happened to most of us, but nobody ever tells anyone.
I ALMOST PI***D MY PANTS LAUGHING WHEN I READ THAT STORY!!!!! No lie, I fell off the couch with tears in my eyes!"
Doug Andrews, Star Market