Italian American Writers on New Jersey: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose (Paperback)

~ Jennifer Gillan (Author), (Author), Maria Mazziotti Gillan (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This anthology gathers fiction, poetry, memoirs, oral histories, and journalistic pieces by some of the best writers to chronicle the Italian American experience in the Garden State. These works focus on ethnic identity and the distinctive culture of New Jersey, which has long been home to a large and vital Italian American community.

Filled with passion, humor, and grace, these writings depict a variety of experiences, including poignant but failed attempts at conformity and the alienation often felt by ethnic Americans. The authors also speak of the strength gained through the preservation of their communities and the realization that it is often the appreciation of their heritage that helps them to succeed. Although presented from the vantage point of only one ethnic group, this book addresses in microcosm the complexities of American identity, depicting situations and conveying emotions that will resonate with people of all immigrant ancestries.

Among the many writers featured are Gay Talese, Bill Ervolino, Tom Perrotta, Louise DeSalvo, Carole Mazo, Diane di Prima, and Maria Laurino. Each of the contributors provides a fresh perspective on the diversity, complexity, and richness of the Italian American experience.

Publication of this book is made possible in part by a grant from the Institute of Italian and Italian American Heritage Studies, State of New Jersey.

About the Author

Jennifer Gillan is an associate professor at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. With Maria Gillan, she has edited Unsettling America, Identity Lessons, and Growing Up Ethnic in America. Maria Mazziotti Gillan is founder and executive director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College and director of the creative writing program at SUNY-Binghamton. Her latest book of poetry is Italian Women in Black Dresses. Edvige Giunta is an associate professor of English at New Jersey City University. She is the author of Writing with an Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (October 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813533171
• ISBN-13: 978-0813533179
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #864,453 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Italian Americans of New Jersey, December 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Italian American Writers on New Jersey: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading Italian American Writers on New Jersey, an amazing collection of works--works previously almost entirely unknown to me, yet in their themes as familiar to me as my own face. The anthology teems with people and places from the past and present; people and places that, despite their imperfections, I remember and revere; people and places who have never before, I think, been given such broad and fair-minded treatment. As I read each page, I laughed, I cried, I winced at the marvelously crafted stories they told. I wanted the book to go on forever. For many years I've heard that in professional publishing circles Italian-themed works are discouraged because "Italians don't read." Thank you to the three editors, and to Rutgers University Press, for proving that Italians certainly can write.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthology of Pleasant Surprises, October 14, 2005

By	Anthony R. Buccino (Nutley, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You might expect a book put together by three professors to be boring, pompous and dull - but Italian American Writers On New Jersey, edited by Jennifer Gillan, Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Edvige Giunta, exceeds expectations.

It's enlightening, enlivening and thought-provoking.

Great literature reminds you of where you've come from.

Here, the bitter and the sweet in poetry and prose maps the past and transitions to where we stand today, in New Jersey and across America.

This anthology crisscrosses the state from Ocean City to Greenwood Lake and Jersey City to Trenton.

Some writers may be familiar to you, and others brand new. (Many will strike you as worth the time to scounge out long lost copies of their work.)

For instance, Combat Zones by Louise DeSalvo is not your typical Italian American remembrance - but much of it is the mystery about relations - the father's piecemeal labor and kitten-drowning - all hit close to home. And it's only the second page.

Throughout are many most-interesting stops in between at Short Hills, Paterson, Seaside Heights and Hillsdale. But you might be bewildered when you seek out Arlington and Cranwood and West Plains.

You see, this anthology of poetry and prose doesn't discern the fiction from the nonfiction.

As if Pietro di Donato's Hoboken: Three Circles of Light would be classified as something that is so real it couldn't be fiction. Or Bill Ervolino's Wood-Ridge could be anything but completely true.

This book appeals not only to Italian American in New Jersey, but to IA's named Gustafson in Ashtabula, Ohio, as well as Smith in Nutley.

Here, the tip of the iceberg, is a good place to learn of one's heritage and to capture the common experience we've had to get where we are today.

This cross section of Italian American writers, the New Jersey who's who among contributors, is a great place to start your private Italian American library, your legacy for your descendents.

This collection presents a commonality that had lain dormant in stories that were scattered.

My only peeve is that in a few instances Italian is used without translation. That, too, reminds me of growing up Italian American in New Jersey.

Some day, every state will wish it had Italian American writers telling its tales in poetry and prose. For now, it's time to read this one and join the call for another volume.