Customer Reviews

The Italian American Reader: A Collection of Outstanding Stories, Memoirs, Journalism, Essays, and Poetry

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Some of these bring me back to the stories my grandparents and parents told (and they words and expressions they used to tell them!). But there are also very modern stories in here by contemporary writers, journalists and poets--anything but old-fashioned. Best of all, a lot of the stories (old and new) are funny. I recommend this highly!

I was familiar with some of the better-known authors (Mario Puzo, Gay Talese) but I'm finding one wonderful writer after another thanks to this terrific collection. As a result of this I've already ordered books by Rita Ciresi, Josephine Gattuso Hendin, Richard Russo--all of whom wrote great domestic fiction, not a gangster or a gun in sight, for the book. They're writing about the average Italian American life, which has always existed out here in its normal, law-abiding way, though you might not know it if you never move from in front of the TV. Now I'm going to try and convince my reading club to do this book next. A real find.

Thank you, Bill Tonelli. At last there is a body of evidence that shows how significantly Italians have contributed to writing and thought in America. The selections in the book are smart and entertaining and Tonelli's perspective on Italians and Italians writing is especially insightful. I am Italian (well, half) and I am relieved that this book is out there to help disprove the misconception that Italians are only good at cooking and shooting. They can write, too.

There have been gifted, even brilliant American writers of Italian descent going back at least to the Thirties, and there are many working today at the peak of their powers. But we've never been able to look at it all in one glance to appreciate it--until now. Spend an hour with this book and I guarantee you'll find half a dozen pieces and authors you'll love. I can argue with some of the choices and omissions, but these are minor quibbles next to the grandness and greatness of what's here. Where else can you find superstars like Mario Puzo, Don DeLillo, Gay Talese, Camille Paglia and Nick Tosches right alongside talented but lesser-known writers like Raymond DeCapite, Lucia Perillo, Pietro DiDonato? I'm not a big fan of kneejerk Italian "pride" but this book does (finally) make the case for this part of our culture. Bravo.

I've got to admit, I'm not proud of my initial reaction to these wonderful selections -- that they seemed "atypical" of what I think of as the Italian-American perspective. But I guess that's the point of the book, and certainly it's part of what great writing does: it divests us of our biases by revealing our common humanity. Bill Tonelli has made an excellent book.

This book is not at all definitive. DON'T TELL MAMA from Viking or FROM THE MARGIN from Purdue U Press are better represenations of the top Italian American authors. Authors like Daniela Gioseffi, Ben Morreale, Gioia Timpanelli or Maria Mazziotti belong here more than some who are represented. And, Tonelli, a jerk about the Mafia stereotype and a fan of the horrible defamatory Sopranos ought to be tarred and feathered and ousted from his own community for representing the over glut of Mafia stories perpetuated by a myth that refuses to recognize the most important fact about Italian American culture; There is no more percentage of organized crime among Italian Americans than any other ethnic group. less. than .01 % of Italian Americans are involved in organized crime and there is no big international Mafia cartel of Italians involved in crime. That was a myth perpetuated by certain powers to make a scape goat for syndicated crime. The S & L scandal of white collar crime on Wall St. and the Enron, Anderson debacle are still the greatest crimes of theivery committed in the history of the world. Hollywood and television have deliberately tried to scapegoat Italians to keep the eye off the real international criminals, and Tonelli should know better than to represent this theme at all. He is a fool for falling for this social engineering and it mars his book horribly, along with the fact that he leaves some of the best writers of all out. Other books on this subject have done a better job, and how can the reviewer from BOOK LIST get away with such nonsense, by saying the culture that produced Michaelangelo, which is the mainland Italian culture, did not produce a Shakespeare? Where has that reader been that he hasn't heard of Dante, the predated, rival of Shakespeare and the great world writer of Italian literature and culture--a different matter than Italian American immigrant culture. Tonelli and his misguided reveiwers show their ignorance. though Tonelli does well to include Mario Puzo's THE FORTUNATE PILGRIM mistitled in the first media review above. It is Puzo's best and truest book --much better than The Godfather, according to Puzo and all his literary critics, too. So read it instead while we send Tonelli back to the drawing boards to do a better job of representing his culture. He's an upstart who really doesn't know how to edit a good book on his subject. And his professional reviewers at top make factual mistakes and don't really know the subject well enough to write a true reveiw.

This book is a feast.

Even for non-Italians this book has merit. I used it as airplane literature, and every time I looked up it was an hour later. Tonelli's made a nice selection blending auto-biographical material with fiction and poetry. It reads like a big box of chocolates - it's hard to stop at just one, that next one looks.....

At last there is a body of evidence that we can point to to prove Italian Americans have contributed significantly to literature and thought in this country. The selections that Bill Tonelli has chosen are well-written, entertaining and smart and his own perspective on the subject of Italian writers is especialy insightful. I am Italian (well, half) and perhaps that makes me more sensitive to the common misconception that Italians can only cook and shoot. We can write, too.

I've been savoring every selection, so I add my thanks to Bill Tonelli for taking me back...