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Christ in Concrete [Paperback]

Pietro di Donato , Studs Terkel
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 7, 2004
One of the 20th century's greatest works of social protest-and its 21st-century message.

A classic examination of the American experience for hard-working Italian immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side shortly before the Great Depression, Christ in Concrete focuses on a family's struggle against harsh economic realities and tenement living.


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Christ in Concrete + La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The death of Pietro di Donato's immigrant father sent Pietro to work at twelve as a bricklayer. His acclaimed, semi-autobiographical bestseller, Christ in Concrete (1939), was a seminal novel that influenced a generation of writers.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: NAL Trade (September 7, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451214218
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451214218
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
(14)
4.6 out of 5 stars
An absorbing read, highly recommended! Jane F. Pedler  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
There are many vivid scenes and characters in this novel. Michael J. Mazza  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A moving "symphony of struggle" September 1, 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Christ in Concrete," by Pietro di Donato, is a superb novel of the Italian-American experience. The Signet Classic edition contains a preface by Studs Terkel and a very informative introduction by Fred L. Gardaphe. Terkel notes that the book was first published in 1939, and compares it to John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath."

"Christ" tells the story of an urban, working-class Italian-American family in the early part of the 20th century. Much of the book is focused on Paul, a young man who finds work as a bricklayer.

di Donato writes with a vivid style; he attains a muscular poetry of blood and concrete as he describes the workers' "symphony of struggle." He brings to life both the specifics of Italian-American life as well as the larger multicultural world in which Paul's family lives. The book deals with Italian-American folk beliefs, tenement living, bilingualism, and a young man's sexual awakening. di Donato also writes on the theme of the common person's struggle against uncaring officialdom. He also explores the question of faith in the face of suffering.

There are many vivid scenes and characters in this novel. One account of an Italian-American feast is particularly memorable. There are also some really graphic, horrifying descriptions of workplace death and injury. I believe that this powerful novel belongs on the shelf with all those great books that sympathetically look at the oppressed and the overworked in the United States. And for another author who has written eloquently on the Italian-American experience, I recommend the fiction of John Fante.

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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Steelworker Opera June 4, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
You have seen those photos from the thirties- construction workers sitting on a girder hundreds of feet above Manhatten, lunch pail next to them, seemingly unaware that their legs are dangling over an abyss. Christ in Concrete is about those workers and that abyss.

This is one of the strangest, most original books I have ever read, a lost classic of American modernism. I cannot think of an author to compare Di Donato to- the mundane and fobidding ironies of Celine come to mind, but so do the mythic qualities of Brecht. It is sort of a reverse image of The Fountainhead- here are brilliant and passionate people literally being crushed by architechture.

Di Donato's style is loud, blunt and operatic. He rushes through cinematic images and superdramatic tragedies, almost as though he fears he is going to bore you. The events are fairly autobiographical. It's rather like meeting a charming but slightly frightening stranger who tells you thier life story: you are entranced and sympatheic, but fully unnerved.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully heartrending June 26, 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This tale of the Italian-American experience told through the voice of a young man whose father is killed in a bizarre construction accident is overwhelming.

It is perhaps the most overlooked American classic.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A highwayscribery Book Report
"Christ in Concrete" is both paean and prayer to the old immigrant Italian industrial worker.

Like the laborers it depicts, "Concrete" lurches towards moments of joy... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Stephen Siciliano
4.0 out of 5 stars Great story!
This is a wonderful novel about the Italian immigrant experience as it pertains to the construction industry. Read more
Published 23 months ago by True Crime Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars American Dream Becomes Nightmare
Discovering that America's streets were not paved with gold is a hard reality found in nearly every immigrant story. Read more
Published on March 11, 2011 by Bill Slocum
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read
In terms of shipping and the product itself I received it in an extremely timely manner and it was in perfect condition. Read more
Published on November 29, 2010 by spencer326
5.0 out of 5 stars Vividly Depicted Novel, Based on a True-Life Story!
Ah, how to adequately describe this vividly written, tragic, humorous, sometimes-horribly-graphic, deeply poetic novel that depicts a true-life story! Read more
Published on February 8, 2010 by Jane F. Pedler
4.0 out of 5 stars Unique, to be sure
While from a literary perspective, this is no masterpiece, it nonetheless captures a unique portrait of early twentieth-century Italian immigrant life. Read more
Published on May 12, 2008 by Chris Donato
5.0 out of 5 stars VERY GOOD BOOK
VERY GOOD BOOK, JUST DIDNT LIKE THE ACTUAL WORDING OF THE BOOK ITSELF WAS A LITTLE WEIRD FOR ITS TYPE OF PLOT, ANY WAYS VERY GOOD BOOK ABOUT THE TIMES.
Published on September 17, 2006 by MICHAEL MALERBA
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites...
This is one of my favorite books. It's a thought-provoking and lyrical portrayal of working class issues in America. Di Donato's prose style is wonderful. Read more
Published on June 23, 2006 by A. Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful
I had the privilege of spending an afternoon at the Long Island home of Pietro Di Donato many, many years ago when a friend of mine, John Liscio,took me to visit. Mr. Read more
Published on May 13, 2006 by C. Papadatos
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic that relates to All Immigrants
This is the finest book I have ever read about Immigrants. As an Italian American it is especially rewarding. Read more
Published on March 22, 2006 by Robert J. Chiarito Jr.
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