c-span: what relationship is bernie mcquaid to joe mcquaid, who now runs the manchester union leader? >> guest: father. i used to carry little joe mcquaid around on my shoulders, i think. c-span: when you set out to write this book, what was the objective? >> guest: well, i had thought that it would be interesting to put it all down and get judged by it. i think there's something in us that wants to be judged. i had to wrestle with writing about yourself. in boston, you don't talk about yourself. you're not supposed to talk about yourself. you're not supposed to talk about your family, not supposed to talk about money, not supposed to talk about women. but -- and i wrestled with that for a while, especially the part about yourself -- examine your motives and relationships and what they meant to you. c-span: when did you start it? >> guest: oh, god, i'm embarrassed. probably three years ago. i started it... c-span: why are you embarrassed? >> guest: well, i mean it took so long. i hadn't -- you know, i'd made a pretty good living as a writer, but when i was just getting to be confident