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What Zizi Gave Honeyboy: A True Story About Love, Wisdom, and the Soul of America
 
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What Zizi Gave Honeyboy: A True Story About Love, Wisdom, and the Soul of America [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Gerald Celente (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 2002
One recent spring Gerald Celente went to visit his cuddly eighty-three-year-old Italian aunt, Zizi, in Yonkers, New York. He was expecting the same delectable combination of food, friendship, and motherly love that Zizi had served up through the years at her little kitchen table. But Celente got more than he expected. Over chicken cutlets and games of Scrabble, the straight-talking Zizi raised some tough questions for her nephew, "Honeyboy," to consider. Targeting some of the essential issues of our time-work, family, health care, politics, war, and aging in America -- Zizi made Celente think about whether America was delivering on its promises. Have we lost too many timeless old-world values in the march of progress? Are we really better off today than we were yesterday? And what does the future hold for each one of us, our families, and our community as a whole?

Celente thought he had it all figured out. As the founder of the Trends Research Institute, he is well respected for his track record of picking business, consumer, political, and economic trends before they come to pass. It is his job to see the future and understand how the issues and events of today will determine the trends of tomorrow.

But it took Zizi to help him see the unsettling truths about what has happened to America over the last several decades. They would talk about the world they once knew -- a world filled with family, dinners together, and Sundays at church. Zizi would remember "back then" with fondness, and Celente would recall his years growing up with his parents and six siblings. As they reflect on their pasts, their lives, and where we've arrived as a nation, Celente and Zizi realize thatsomething has been lost. There is an emptiness that most of us feel. But what is the cause of it? And what can we do to fix it?

In "What Zizi Gave Honeyboy, Gerald Celente provides a provocative look at our lives today and a glimpse of the future we deserve in Zizi's warmth, her recipes, and her wisdom.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Zizi is an ailing but feisty 83-year-old Italian matriarch, widowed and living alone in Yonkers, N.Y. Honeyboy is her nickname for her nephew, author Celente, a divorced analyst who directs the Trends Research Institute. Here, Celente shares about 20 conversations that the two had in 1999 over home-cooked meals and Scrabble games at Zizi's kitchen table. (Recipes for Zizi's breaded chicken cutlets and anise cookies are included.) In the spirit of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, this is a book in which a wise, spiritual older person offers heartfelt advice to an overworked baby boomer. However, while Albom freely shared his emotions, Celente generally responds with facts and figures. For example, when Celente complains about Zizi's lifelong cigarette habit, she jokingly asks if marijuana would be preferable. Celente curtly says that he used to smoke pot but doesn't anymore. Before Zizi can respond in what could have been a lively debate, Celente compares and contrasts the effects of smoking marijuana vs. tobacco, launching into a long, statistic-laden monologue. The book also contains a fair amount of politically incorrect observations made, ironically, by Celente and not Zizi (e.g., when Celente speaks of some of his acquaintances who won't hire a black acupuncturist, he says, "these guys aren't racists, that's just the way it is.") Not surprisingly, the book is at its strongest when Zizi talks and Celente listens. Her recollection of a near-death experience involving the entertainer Danny Thomas is both poignant and hilarious. This is a sweet if at times frustrating inspirational tome. B&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Celente, a top trends analyst featured in newspapers and on TV, was going through a painful divorce. Zizi, his 80-year-old aunt, had just lost her husband. They had already been close, but now they were spending much more time together and forming a special bond. Zizi's endearing, homespun wisdom has been all but lost. Working through painful phlebitis in her legs, she continues to serve up huge Italian meals for Gerald and impart her thoughts on the sorry state of affairs of fractured families, the displaced and abandoned elderly, and the corrupt government that says it cares but does little. "Look at all these pills they want me to take," she says. "What are they, crazy? If I took every one of them I'd either be a drug addict or I'd be dead." As she looks back on missed opportunities, she tells Gerald, "Don't save all your money for a rainy day, because you may end up spending it all on rain. Spend some on sunshine. Enjoy your life." Zizi's wisdom is good medicine for Gerald and can help anyone through tough times. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 243 pages
  • Publisher: Thorndike Press (September 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786245484
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786245482
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (14)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Zizi rocks!, April 22, 2002
By 
Julio Garcia (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
I bought this book and couldn't put it down until I was
done reading it, a pretty fast bittersweet read.

Celente does a great job of showing how the default culture
in America has really screwed things up - from the fake food
most folks now get to the phoney political system.

He laments what we lost in the breakup of the traditional
extended family without coming across as a sentimental
reactionary.

Zizi for president!

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars what zizi gave honey boy, March 28, 2002
A very light easy read that has it all from nostalgia, humor, sadness,to most of all- important messages to where America is today. If you find yourself in the eye of a stress storm being bombarded with today's events including no time for yourself and family this book is for you. Very insightful!

I picked this book to read because I know Mr. Celente's reputation for getting it right in identifying trends in his previous books. He called everything from the Dot Com demise to the end of the cold war well before the actual happenings.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Zizi - a national treasure, April 15, 2002
By 
Thomas Elling (Temecula, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
Who hasn't wished that they had Aunt like Zizi? The lady makes great anise cookies, tons of delicious Italian fare and sends you home with all the leftovers!! She serves all her dishes with a healthy dose of common sense and insight gained from observing life the past 83 years. Through her Gerald Celente puts a human face on the trends that have been on the front page for the past twenty years and the new ones that will be on tomorrow. A great read and a great lady!
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