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C. Anthony Martignetti

Lunatic Heroes Paperback – August 31, 2012

by C. Anthony Martignetti (Author), Amanda Palmer (Foreword)

47 ratings

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Dark, comic, raw, disturbing, and often redemptive, these fifteen tales will take you from the 1950s to the present, along with a repeating cast of heroes and lunatics. The characters span the breadth and the depths of human qualities and capacities. The same person, in one story, may materialize as a hero and a god, and in another, as a lunatic and a demon. While the author roughs up the people in his stories with the hand of terror, he simultaneously views them with the eyes of love. Martignetti spares no one, and to his credit, particularly not himself. For one who confesses so much fear, he is fearlessly self-revealing. After reading this memoir collection, you will come to know these characters, and the author, intimately. Not that you’d necessarily want to, it’s just the way things will turn out. About the author: C. Anthony Martignetti, Ph.D., is a writer and psychotherapist in Lexington, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, Laura, and their Border Terrier, Piper. In the late 1960s, as a high school graduation gift, his mother tried to nominate him for a Pulitzer Prize, but the panel refused to accept her recommendation since nobody had heard of either him or her... and all he had ever written were assignments for an English class in which he received a solid B. He got a set of Samsonite luggage as a graduation gift instead. As a result of that event he has remained, to this day, defiantly unpublished.

Print length

230 pages
Language

English
Publisher

3 Swallys Press
Publication date

August 31, 2012
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.52 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0988230003
ISBN-13

978-0988230002
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ 3 Swallys Press; 1St Edition (August 31, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 230 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0988230003
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0988230002
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.52 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,754,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #86,392 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
47 ratings

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BookFiend07

Absolutely amazing, incredibly moving!

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2013

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Absolutely mesmerizing in how Martignetti takes memories and paints them so vividly with his words that you could swear you were there. Even in the darker ones where you wish you weren't, wish (like the toad) that you could not be there, because witnessing it is almost as bad as being a part of it. It made me want to hug Martignetti in the various stages of his life and made me exult when he describes the peaceful balance of his now wife and the incredible lightness that comes from the love of a dog. His stories have the power to pull you back on your own life, to remember things about yourself or others that reflect some portion of his own story and throughout the book this theme of reflection seems purposeful as if Martignetti is asking all of us to reflect. Not just on our histories but to reflect our loved ones, and to reflect others so we can try to hate less and love more, which is what we all need. Honestly some of the most powerful non-fiction I have read in as many years as I can remember. A book I will most definitely thrust into the hands of friends and urge them to read it, so they go and buy their own copy to pay it forward.

2 people found this helpful

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Jamy Ian Swiss

A Remarkable Storyteller

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2012

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Lunatic Heroes: Memories, Lies and Reflections
By C. Anthony Martnetti

In the introduction to Lunatic Heroes by C. Anthony Martignetti, singer/songwriter/musician/rockstar Amanda Palmer writes, "Anthony is a therapist, and a good listener."

That succinct characterization, included in a moving introduction about her lifelong relationship with Martignetti, whom she has known as a "mentor," "guru," [and] "best friend" since she was nine years old, describes in accurate and deliberate understatement the narrative voice of this powerful storyteller in his book, Lunatic Heroes. The title, which refers to his boyhood family, in reality, of course, describes all of us who suffer as fellow captives in the Human Condition.

This collection of stories both long and short amounts to a memoir of Martignetti's youth, growing up in the outskirts of Boston amid his Italian-American forebears. A sensitive boy who often felt isolated and outcast, his innate discomfort and alienation was reflected in early habits of nail-biting, self-afflicted hickeys, and a general resistance to most of the food his family routinely ate, "including, but not limited to: whole-roasted goat head ... pigs' feet, congealed blood pie, baby cow stomachs ... [and] "[g]arlic, garlic, and more garlic, garlic out your butt." As a result he was routinely insulted and beaten by his narcissistic mother, who would at other times smother him in love he craved, but whose mood would rarely last the day without including a dark turn. "Home was the place of love's promise," Martignetti observes, "and also the place where the wounds of love churned."

The stories and characters aren't all dark, some are positively comic (if darkly comic at that), with anecdotes of school friends and extended families and a larger-than-life grandfather who would let young Anthony carry a bag of cash to the bank, while "Nonno" followed behind, loaded gun in hand. The author often manages to strike an ironic if rueful tone even when describing routine lunacies, such as his mother gluing Lee Press-On Nails over his own in order to keep him from nail-biting - which led to his acquiring a taste for the plastic nails, which she would sometimes hand him as a treat when out in public, like giving a child a piece of candy.

Young Anthony's relationship with his father was no less complex, tracking a range of highs and lows that eventually led to his father's confession when "...years later he told me he loved me because I was his son, but that I just wasn't his type of guy." The author adds, "He was my idol, and I needed to be his type of guy." Don't we all.

The best non-fiction literature is that which uses the micro to illustrate the macro, and the compelling beauty of Martignetti's stories can be found in the parallel truths unique to his experience that lie side-by-side with truths that are unmistakably universal, and the tension and balance between the two keeps one riveted to the page. I laughed, I cried ...

In a tale of a mystic and magisterial bullfrog, a longtime resident at the local pond, Martignetti looks back on the cruelties of older boys who eventually trap the animal - a moment in which I had to turn away from the page in fear of impending cruelty - and draws connection and insight between the tragic creature and those Buddhist monks who immolated themselves in protest against an oppressive North Vietnamese regime. Looking back, "The monk who gave his life was a hero to me, as was Bullfrog before him."

Martignetti's super power is the ability to see these connections that are invisible to or overlooked by others, and the simultaneous humor and horror thereby revealed is impossible to turn away from. In recounting a first childhood crush, and its encompassing sense of inchoate longing, he recalls, "I had no idea what to do with her - I was a rabbit chasing a tricycle." Comic or tragic, the author's vision is unfailingly 20-20.

30 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2013

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Edit: Dr. Martignetti passed away yesterday, 06/22/15, after a 3 1/2 year battle with cancer. The world has lost a voice of reason, and is a little darker now for it.

This is a series of short stories told in a generally chronological order, but the through story is heartbreaking and soul-rending - in a good way. I've been reading digitally for almost a year now, but have gone back to paper (and flashlight under the covers so as not to disturb sleeping husband) for this book, and it's worth it. Heartbreaking - did I say that already?

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A Friend Perhaps I'll Never Really Meet

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2012

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Lunatic Heroes is an unexpected new favorite of mine.

While reading the beautifully told memoirs I felt myself often on the verge of laughter, tears or both. Wishing I could know this person and listen to his stories over coffee each morning. While there are some stories in here that do not seem extraordinary in and of themselves, the way Anthony Martignetti explains them or the emotional impact they left makes you feel as though the world might be just a bit more beautiful than you thought going in.

I can't write about any of these stories without spoilers, but I have already read a few of them through second, third or even fourth times. I devoured this book quickly initially and then allowed myself more time to pour over the finer intricacies later.

I would definitely recommend this book, and will be gifting it to a few loved ones myself this winter.

One person found this helpful

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OCindyOCindy

Took me back - maybe it's the same today -

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2016

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I was very surprised by how truly honest and by how truly well written this collection of personal stories was. I wish the author were still alive to do more of these stories/books and reach a larger audience. I only found this book fourth-hand, so to speak - but it was one of the most authentic things (that had any literary merit whatever), I've read by anyone born in that early baby-boomer cohort (1946-1950). I couldn't come from a background more different, but the world then was what it was then, and he and I had the exact same tools (lack) to cope with it. Or maybe it was that we had the same entirely personal 'issues' in different settings (i.e. my brother from another mother). No idea how anyone else would respond - for me, he nailed it - and it was darn well- wriiten. Totally personal - I have no idea whether anyone else would 'like' this book....

One person found this helpful

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Sophie W

Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2019

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Really enjoyed this, dark as it may be. Very unique and touching. Written in a style that lets you feel the experience of the author.

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The Hippy Chick

Amazing stories from an inspirational man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2016

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Amazing stories from an inspirational man. I wish we could hear more. I want everyone to read his books. They will make you laugh and cry.

Delilah Dee

partially because of Amanda Palmer deep love of the author

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2015

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I decided to buy this book after the tragic death of Mr Martignetti, partially because of Amanda Palmer deep love of the author.

I am thoroughly in love with this book, and the style in which it is written. Martignetti had a tremendous talent for recalling key events in his life with ferocious honesty. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough.

Jess

Wonderful

Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2012

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I bought this book out of love for Amanda Palmer, and to support her friend Anthony. I am so glad that I did, because this book is an incredible read. His stories are incredibly honest and thought provoking, and moves so quickly from laugh out loud funny to sorrowful. Anthony offers his readers a powerful and brutal look into his childhood, sharing with his readers the pieces of our lives we usually try hard to hide, or forget. Read this book - you won't be disappointed. I know he has many more stories to tell, and I hope he has the opportunity to do so.

Hani

I didn't like it

Reviewed in Canada on December 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

I read the first story and I didn't like it
I didn't like his storytelling techniques, it just didn't grab me

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